diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 85433e2b8..4bd6399ae 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ Bugs fixed
 
 * #4206: latex: reST label between paragraphs loses paragraph break
 * #4231: html: Apply fixFirefoxAnchorBug only under Firefox
+* #4221: napoleon depends on autodoc, but users need to load it manually
 
 Testing
 --------
diff --git a/doc/ext/napoleon.rst b/doc/ext/napoleon.rst
index ea3e4042f..f7e9081f7 100644
--- a/doc/ext/napoleon.rst
+++ b/doc/ext/napoleon.rst
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ Getting Started
 
        # conf.py
 
-       # Add autodoc and napoleon to the extensions list
-       extensions = ['sphinx.ext.autodoc', 'sphinx.ext.napoleon']
+       # Add napoleon to the extensions list
+       extensions = ['sphinx.ext.napoleon']
 
 2. Use `sphinx-apidoc` to build your API documentation::
 
@@ -246,13 +246,12 @@ Configuration
 
 Listed below are all the settings used by napoleon and their default
 values. These settings can be changed in the Sphinx `conf.py` file. Make
-sure that both "sphinx.ext.autodoc" and "sphinx.ext.napoleon" are
-enabled in `conf.py`::
+sure that "sphinx.ext.napoleon" is enabled in `conf.py`::
 
     # conf.py
 
     # Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings
-    extensions = ['sphinx.ext.autodoc', 'sphinx.ext.napoleon']
+    extensions = ['sphinx.ext.napoleon']
 
     # Napoleon settings
     napoleon_google_docstring = True
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/napoleon/__init__.py b/sphinx/ext/napoleon/__init__.py
index f319a18c4..7aca9b629 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/napoleon/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/napoleon/__init__.py
@@ -27,13 +27,12 @@ class Config(object):
 
     Listed below are all the settings used by napoleon and their default
     values. These settings can be changed in the Sphinx `conf.py` file. Make
-    sure that both "sphinx.ext.autodoc" and "sphinx.ext.napoleon" are
-    enabled in `conf.py`::
+    sure that "sphinx.ext.napoleon" is enabled in `conf.py`::
 
         # conf.py
 
         # Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings
-        extensions = ['sphinx.ext.autodoc', 'sphinx.ext.napoleon']
+        extensions = ['sphinx.ext.napoleon']
 
         # Napoleon settings
         napoleon_google_docstring = True
@@ -294,6 +293,7 @@ def setup(app):
 
     _patch_python_domain()
 
+    app.setup_extension('sphinx.ext.autodoc')
     app.connect('autodoc-process-docstring', _process_docstring)
     app.connect('autodoc-skip-member', _skip_member)