diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index b36fc0755..dd406a552 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ Bugs fixed
 * #3725: Todo looks different from note in LaTeX output
 * #3479: stub-columns have no effect in LaTeX output
 * #3738: Nonsensical code in theming.py
+* #3746: PDF builds fail with latexmk 4.48 or earlier due to undefined
+  options ``-pdfxe`` and ``-pdflua``
 
 Testing
 --------
@@ -322,17 +324,8 @@ Deprecated
 * #3628: ``sphinx_themes`` entry_point is deprecated.  Please use
   ``sphinx.html_themes`` instead.
 
-Release 1.5.6 (in development)
-==============================
-
-Incompatible changes
---------------------
-
-Deprecated
-----------
-
-Features added
---------------
+Release 1.5.6 (released May 15, 2017)
+=====================================
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
@@ -349,9 +342,7 @@ Bugs fixed
 * #3717: Stop enforcing that favicon's must be .ico
 * #3731, #3732: Protect isenumclass predicate against non-class arguments
 * #3320: Warning about reference target not being found for container types
-
-Testing
---------
+* Misspelled ARCHIVEPREFIX in Makefile for latex build repertory
 
 Release 1.5.5 (released Apr 03, 2017)
 =====================================
diff --git a/doc/builders.rst b/doc/builders.rst
index 13a5163fc..033716b9a 100644
--- a/doc/builders.rst
+++ b/doc/builders.rst
@@ -191,8 +191,12 @@ The builder's "name" must be given to the **-b** command-line option of
 
          make latexpdf LATEXMKOPTS="-silent"
 
-      reduces console output to a minimum. To pass options directly to the
-      ``pdflatex`` executable, use variable ``LATEXOPTS`` (for example
+      reduces console output to a minimum. Also, if ``latexmk`` version is
+      4.52b or higher (Jan 17) and ``xelatex`` is the :confval:`latex_engine`,
+      then ``LATEXMKOPTS="-xelatex"`` will speed up PDF builds.
+
+      To pass options directly to the
+      ``(pdf|xe|lua)latex`` executable, use variable ``LATEXOPTS`` (for example
       ``LATEXOPTS="--interaction=nonstopmode"``).
 
    .. autoattribute:: name
diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/Makefile_t b/sphinx/texinputs/Makefile_t
index ca761fe98..06bd6c4d7 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/Makefile_t
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/Makefile_t
@@ -13,27 +13,25 @@ ALLPS  = $(addsuffix .ps,$(ALLDOCS))
 ALLIMGS = $(wildcard *.png *.gif *.jpg *.jpeg)
 
 # Prefix for archive names
-ARCHIVEPRREFIX =
+ARCHIVEPREFIX =
 # Additional LaTeX options (passed via variables in latexmkrc/latexmkjarc file)
 export LATEXOPTS =
 # Additional latexmk options
+{% if latex_engine == 'xelatex' -%}
+# with latexmk version 4.52b or higher set LATEXMKOPTS to -xelatex either here
+# or on command line for faster builds.
+{% endif -%}
 LATEXMKOPTS =
-# format: pdf or dvi
+# format: pdf or dvi (used only by archive targets)
 FMT = pdf
 
 {% if latex_engine == 'platex' -%}
 # latexmkrc is read then overridden by latexmkjarc
 LATEX = latexmk -r latexmkjarc -dvi
 PDFLATEX = latexmk -r latexmkjarc -pdfdvi -dvi- -ps-
-{% elif latex_engine == 'pdflatex' -%}
+{% else -%}
 LATEX = latexmk -dvi
 PDFLATEX = latexmk -pdf -dvi- -ps-
-{% elif latex_engine == 'lualatex' -%}
-LATEX = latexmk -lualatex
-PDFLATEX = latexmk -pdflua -dvi- -ps-
-{% elif latex_engine == 'xelatex' -%}
-LATEX = latexmk -pdfxe -dvi- -ps-
-PDFLATEX = $(LATEX)
 {% endif %}
 
 %.png %.gif %.jpg %.jpeg: FORCE_MAKE
diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/latexmkrc b/sphinx/texinputs/latexmkrc_t
similarity index 52%
rename from sphinx/texinputs/latexmkrc
rename to sphinx/texinputs/latexmkrc_t
index 1e1ec1903..e3cd14f48 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/latexmkrc
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/latexmkrc_t
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
+{% if latex_engine == 'pdflatex' -%}
 $latex = 'latex ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
 $pdflatex = 'pdflatex ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
+{% elif latex_engine == 'lualatex' -%}
+$latex = 'lualatex --output-format=dvi ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
+$pdflatex = 'lualatex ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
+{% elif latex_engine == 'xelatex' -%}
+$latex = 'xelatex --no-pdf ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
+$pdflatex = 'xelatex ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
+{% endif -%}
 $lualatex = 'lualatex ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
 $xelatex = 'xelatex --no-pdf ' . $ENV{'LATEXOPTS'} . ' %O %S';
 $makeindex = 'makeindex -s python.ist %O -o %D %S';