diff --git a/docs/go/meson.build b/docs/go/meson.build
index 0ae0216ce3..c0e19c4182 100644
--- a/docs/go/meson.build
+++ b/docs/go/meson.build
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ docs_go_files = [
   'libvirtxml',
 ]
 
-html_xslt_gen_xslt = subsite_xsl
 html_xslt_gen_install_dir = docs_html_dir / 'go'
 html_xslt_gen = []
 
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ foreach name : docs_go_files
     'name': name,
     'file': docs_rst2html5_gen.process(rst_file),
     'source': 'docs' / 'go' / rst_file,
+    'href_base': '../',
   }
 endforeach
 
@@ -33,8 +33,9 @@ foreach data : html_xslt_gen
       '--stringparam', 'pagesrc', data.get('source', ''),
       '--stringparam', 'builddir', meson.build_root(),
       '--stringparam', 'timestamp', docs_timestamp,
+      '--stringparam', 'href_base', data.get('href_base', ''),
       '--nonet',
-      html_xslt_gen_xslt,
+      site_xsl,
       '@INPUT@',
     ],
     depends: data.get('depends', []),
diff --git a/docs/internals/meson.build b/docs/internals/meson.build
index 2d0ae6195c..298a55dd88 100644
--- a/docs/internals/meson.build
+++ b/docs/internals/meson.build
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ internals_in_files = [
   'rpc',
 ]
 
-html_xslt_gen_xslt = subsite_xsl
 html_xslt_gen_install_dir = docs_html_dir / 'internals'
 html_xslt_gen = []
 
@@ -13,6 +12,7 @@ foreach name : internals_in_files
   html_xslt_gen += {
     'name': name,
     'source': 'docs' / 'internals' / name + '.html.in',
+    'href_base': '../'
   }
 endforeach
 
@@ -32,8 +32,9 @@ foreach data : html_xslt_gen
       '--stringparam', 'pagesrc', data.get('source', ''),
       '--stringparam', 'builddir', meson.build_root(),
       '--stringparam', 'timestamp', docs_timestamp,
+      '--stringparam', 'href_base', data.get('href_base', ''),
       '--nonet',
-      html_xslt_gen_xslt,
+      site_xsl,
       '@INPUT@',
     ],
     depends: data.get('depends', []),
diff --git a/docs/kbase/meson.build b/docs/kbase/meson.build
index 4114fc81d1..e37feb6d30 100644
--- a/docs/kbase/meson.build
+++ b/docs/kbase/meson.build
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ docs_kbase_files = [
   'virtiofs',
 ]
 
-html_xslt_gen_xslt = subsite_xsl
 html_xslt_gen_install_dir = docs_html_dir / 'kbase'
 html_xslt_gen = []
 
@@ -35,6 +34,7 @@ foreach name : docs_kbase_files
     'name': name,
     'file': docs_rst2html5_gen.process(rst_file),
     'source': 'docs' / 'kbase' / rst_file,
+    'href_base': '../',
   }
 endforeach
 
@@ -54,8 +54,9 @@ foreach data : html_xslt_gen
       '--stringparam', 'pagesrc', data.get('source', ''),
       '--stringparam', 'builddir', meson.build_root(),
       '--stringparam', 'timestamp', docs_timestamp,
+      '--stringparam', 'href_base', data.get('href_base', ''),
       '--nonet',
-      html_xslt_gen_xslt,
+      site_xsl,
       '@INPUT@',
     ],
     depends: data.get('depends', []),
diff --git a/docs/manpages/meson.build b/docs/manpages/meson.build
index d9fcb6b057..ba673cf472 100644
--- a/docs/manpages/meson.build
+++ b/docs/manpages/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-html_xslt_gen_xslt = subsite_xsl
 html_xslt_gen_install_dir = docs_html_dir / 'manpages'
 html_xslt_gen = []
 
@@ -130,6 +129,7 @@ foreach data : docs_man_files
     'name': data['name'],
     'file': html_in,
     'source': 'docs' / 'manpages' / rst_in_file,
+    'href_base': '../',
   }
 endforeach
 
@@ -149,8 +149,9 @@ foreach data : html_xslt_gen
       '--stringparam', 'pagesrc', data.get('source', ''),
       '--stringparam', 'builddir', meson.build_root(),
       '--stringparam', 'timestamp', docs_timestamp,
+      '--stringparam', 'href_base', data.get('href_base', ''),
       '--nonet',
-      html_xslt_gen_xslt,
+      site_xsl,
       '@INPUT@',
     ],
     depends: data.get('depends', []),
diff --git a/docs/meson.build b/docs/meson.build
index 417915a2cb..91c6fbe844 100644
--- a/docs/meson.build
+++ b/docs/meson.build
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ docs_assets = [
 ]
 
 docs_html_in_files = [
-  '404',
   'docs',
   'formatcaps',
   'formatnetwork',
@@ -132,7 +131,6 @@ docs_timestamp = run_command(
 ).stdout().strip()
 
 site_xsl = files('site.xsl')
-subsite_xsl = files('subsite.xsl')
 page_xsl = files('page.xsl')
 newapi_xsl = files('newapi.xsl')
 
@@ -218,7 +216,6 @@ docs_rst2html5_gen = generator(
 
 # html_xslt_gen config
 
-html_xslt_gen_xslt = site_xsl
 html_xslt_gen_install_dir = docs_html_dir
 
 html_xslt_gen = []
@@ -251,6 +248,12 @@ html_xslt_gen += {
   'depends': aclperms_gen,
 }
 
+html_xslt_gen += {
+  'name': '404',
+  'source': 'docs' / '404.html.in',
+  'href_base': '/',
+}
+
 hvsupport_html_in = custom_target(
   'hvsupport.html.in',
   output: 'hvsupport.html.in',
@@ -302,8 +305,9 @@ foreach data : html_xslt_gen
       '--stringparam', 'pagesrc', data.get('source', ''),
       '--stringparam', 'builddir', meson.build_root(),
       '--stringparam', 'timestamp', docs_timestamp,
+      '--stringparam', 'href_base', data.get('href_base', ''),
       '--nonet',
-      html_xslt_gen_xslt,
+      site_xsl,
       '@INPUT@',
     ],
     depends: data.get('depends', []),
diff --git a/docs/site.xsl b/docs/site.xsl
index 931e26272f..f56eb67b8a 100644
--- a/docs/site.xsl
+++ b/docs/site.xsl
@@ -13,21 +13,11 @@
     encoding="UTF-8"
     indent="yes"/>
 
-  <xsl:variable name="href_base">
-    <xsl:choose>
-      <xsl:when test="$pagesrc = 'docs/404.html.in'">
-        <xsl:value-of select="'/'"/>
-      </xsl:when>
-      <xsl:otherwise>
-        <xsl:value-of select="''"/>
-      </xsl:otherwise>
-    </xsl:choose>
-  </xsl:variable>
-
   <xsl:template match="/">
     <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="page">
       <xsl:with-param name="pagesrc" select="$pagesrc"/>
       <xsl:with-param name="timestamp" select="$timestamp"/>
+      <xsl:with-param name="href_base" select="$href_base"/>
     </xsl:apply-templates>
   </xsl:template>
 
diff --git a/docs/subsite.xsl b/docs/subsite.xsl
deleted file mode 100644
index 2bdfcbb9b1..0000000000
--- a/docs/subsite.xsl
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0"?>
-<xsl:stylesheet
-  xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
-  xmlns:exsl="http://exslt.org/common"
-  exclude-result-prefixes="xsl exsl"
-  version="1.0">
-
-  <xsl:import href="page.xsl"/>
-
-  <xsl:output
-    method="xml"
-    encoding="UTF-8"
-    indent="yes"/>
-
-  <xsl:variable name="href_base" select="'../'"/>
-
-  <xsl:template match="/">
-    <xsl:apply-templates select="." mode="page">
-      <xsl:with-param name="pagesrc" select="$pagesrc"/>
-      <xsl:with-param name="timestamp" select="$timestamp"/>
-    </xsl:apply-templates>
-  </xsl:template>
-
-</xsl:stylesheet>