diff --git a/docs/Makefile b/docs/Makefile
index a24d3c16bb..740e7a6f0d 100644
--- a/docs/Makefile
+++ b/docs/Makefile
@@ -35,9 +35,10 @@ install-deps: live-blocks-install-deps
 
 # The live-blocks-% pattern target will shim to the
 # npm scripts in ./website/scripts/live-blocks
+# NOTE(sr): we'll avoid an API call if we make use of releases.yaml to determine the latest release
 .PHONY: live-blocks-%
 live-blocks-%:
-	cd $(CURDIR)/website/scripts/live-blocks && npm run $*
+	cd $(CURDIR)/website/scripts/live-blocks && LATEST=$(shell sed -n '2s/- //p' $(CURDIR)/website/data/releases.yaml) npm run $*
 
 .PHONY: serve-local
 serve-local: dev-build
@@ -69,7 +70,8 @@ hugo-production-build:
 		--minify
 
 .PHONY: production-build
-production-build: clean generate hugo-production-build live-blocks-inject
+production-build: clean generate hugo-production-build
+	make live-blocks-inject
 
 .PHONY: preview-build
 preview-build:
diff --git a/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/acquireOPAVersion.js b/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/acquireOPAVersion.js
index a9d606626f..e3caa97b18 100644
--- a/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/acquireOPAVersion.js
+++ b/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/acquireOPAVersion.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ function createAcquirer(version) {
         throw new Error(`binary for ${VERSION_EDGE} is not available at path ${path}, ensure it has been built for the current platform`)
       }
 
-      const assetURL = await getReleaseAssetURL(version)
+      const assetURL = getReleaseAssetURL(version);
 
       let file
       try {
@@ -89,30 +89,13 @@ function pathToVersion(version) {
   return path.resolve(OPA_CACHE_PATH, `${version}-${PLATFORM}${PLATFORM === PLATFORMS.WINDOWS ? '.exe' : ''}`)
 }
 
-// Gets the URL that can be used to download a given version of OPA for the current platform. May error with a user-friendly message.
-async function getReleaseAssetURL(version) {
-  // Releases are on GitHub
-  let releaseURL;
+// Gets the URL that can be used to download a given version of OPA for the current platform.
+// Releases are on GitHub, URLs are predictable
+function getReleaseAssetURL(version) {
   if (version === VERSION_LATEST) {
-    releaseURL = `https://api.github.com/repos/open-policy-agent/opa/releases/latest`
-  } else {
-    releaseURL = `https://api.github.com/repos/open-policy-agent/opa/releases/tags/${version}`;
+    version = process.env.LATEST;
   }
-
-  try {
-    const release = await (await fetch(releaseURL)).json()
-    for (let asset of Object.values(release.assets)) {
-      if (asset.name.indexOf(PLATFORM) != -1) {
-        if (asset.browser_download_url) { // If it's actually set, return it
-          return asset.browser_download_url
-        }
-        // Implicit else, throw error below.
-      }
-    }
-  } catch (e) {
-    throw new ChainedError(`error occurred while getting the OPA release asset URL for ${version} on ${PLATFORM} from ${releaseURL}`, e)
-  }
-  throw new Error(`unable to get the OPA release asset URL for ${version} on ${PLATFORM} from ${releaseURL}`)
+  return `https://github.com/open-policy-agent/opa/releases/download/${version}/opa_${PLATFORM}_${GOARCH}${PLATFORM === PLATFORMS.WINDOWS ? '.exe' : ''}`;
 }
 
 // Determines, based on the path to where it should be downloaded, whether it needs to be downloaded. Will not throw an error.
diff --git a/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/index.js b/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/index.js
index 2cd9716094..d163638903 100644
--- a/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/index.js
+++ b/docs/website/scripts/live-blocks/src/preprocess/index.js
@@ -79,7 +79,10 @@ async function processFile(path) {
 function getVersion(path) {
   const versionMatch = (new RegExp(`/(v[^/]*|${VERSION_EDGE}|${VERSION_LATEST})/`)).exec(filepath.resolve(path))
   if (!versionMatch) {
-    return VERSION_LATEST
+    if (process.env.LATEST) {
+      return VERSION_LATEST
+    }
+    return VERSION_EDGE
   }
 
   return versionMatch[1]