diff --git a/doc/ext/gen_rst.py b/doc/ext/gen_rst.py
index 0cf8cbd2..cdef3fbd 100644
--- a/doc/ext/gen_rst.py
+++ b/doc/ext/gen_rst.py
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ def generate_file_rst(fname, target_dir, src_dir, plot_gallery):
 
     if not os.path.exists(thumb_file):
         # create something not to replace the thumbnail
-        shutil.copy('images/blank_image.png', thumb_file)
+        shutil.copy('source/auto_examples/images/blank_image.png', thumb_file)
 
     docstring, short_desc, end_row = extract_docstring(example_file)