diff --git a/.github/workflows/pages.yml b/.github/workflows/pages.yml
index 9cb0402..14822fa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pages.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pages.yml
@@ -57,22 +57,30 @@ jobs:
         sudo apt install -qq ghostscript fonts-freefont-otf  # https://stackoverflow.com/a/69012150
         sed -ri 's#^(\s*baseurl:).*#\1 ${{ steps.pages.outputs.base_url }}/'$SITE_PREFIX'#g' _config.yml
         jupyter-book build --builder dirhtml --warningiserror --nitpick --keep-going .
-        jupyter-book build --builder latex .
-        # insert PDF cover
+        jupyter-book build --builder latex --warningiserror --nitpick --keep-going .
         cd _build/latex
-        curl -fsSLO https://static.premai.io/book/cover.pdf
-        sed -i -r \
-          -e 's/(\\documentclass.*)letterpaper(.*)/\1a4paper\2/' \
-          -e 's/(\\usepackage\{geometry\})/\1\n\\usepackage\{pdfpages\}/' \
-          -e 's/\\sphinxmaketitle/\\includepdf\[pages=-\]\{cover.pdf\}/' \
-          -e 's/\\sphinxtableofcontents//' \
+        # fix contrib.rocks
+        mv state-of-open-source-ai contrib-rocks.svg
+        convert contrib-rocks.svg contrib-rocks.png || :
+        sed -ri 's/(.*includegraphics\{\{)state-of-open-source-ai(\}\}.*)/\1contrib-rocks.png\2/g' book.tex
+        # fix undefined in FreeFont
+        sed -ri \
+          -e 's/[🆕🌈🎉💪💬💻📝📥🔠🔌🛠␂↔️⚙️]//g' \
+          -e 's/🔴/☒/g' \
+          -e 's/🟡/☐/g' \
+          -e 's/🟢/☑/g' \
           book.tex
+        # insert PDF cover
+        curl -fsSLO https://static.premai.io/book/cover.pdf
       env: {PYTHONPATH: .}
     - uses: xu-cheng/latex-action@v3
       with:
         working_directory: _build/latex
         root_file: book.tex
         args: -pdf -dvi- -ps- -file-line-error -f -interaction=nonstopmode
+        latexmk_use_xelatex: true
+      env:
+        XINDYOPTS: -L english -C utf8 -M sphinx.xdy
       continue-on-error: true
     - name: prepare _site pages
       run: |
diff --git a/_config.yml b/_config.yml
index 57a8ded..eef358a 100644
--- a/_config.yml
+++ b/_config.yml
@@ -80,7 +80,6 @@ parse:
   - tasklist
 sphinx:
   extra_extensions:
-  - sphinxemoji.sphinxemoji
   - sphinx_last_updated_by_git
   - sphinx_subfigure
   # custom (local *.py files)
@@ -132,6 +131,16 @@ sphinx:
     html_last_updated_fmt: '%d %b %Y'
     jblatex_show_tocs: false
     bibtex_reference_style: label
+    latex_elements:
+      papersize: a4paper
+      # requires https://static.premai.io/book/cover.pdf
+      extrapackages: \usepackage{pdfpages}
+      maketitle: \includepdf[pages=-]{cover.pdf}
+      tableofcontents: ''
+      # fix citations in figure captions (https://github.com/mcmtroffaes/sphinxcontrib-bibtex/issues/276)
+      preamble: |
+        \usepackage{etoolbox}
+        \AtBeginEnvironment{figure}{\pretocmd{\hyperlink}{\protect}{}{}}
 bibtex_bibfiles: [references.bib] # citations
 latex: # for PDF builds
   latex_documents:
diff --git a/index.md b/index.md
index efcca19..1f76f0b 100644
--- a/index.md
+++ b/index.md
@@ -84,11 +84,9 @@ Spot something outdated or missing? Want to start a discussion? We welcome any o
 
 ### Formatting
 
-````{note}
-```{eval-rst}
-Don't worry about making it perfect, it's fine to open a (`draft <https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/about-pull-requests#draft-pull-requests>`_) PR and `allow edits from maintainers <https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-from-a-fork>`_ to fix it |:heart:|
+```{note}
+Don't worry about making it perfect, it's fine to open a ([draft](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/about-pull-requests#draft-pull-requests)) PR and [allow edits from maintainers](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/proposing-changes-to-your-work-with-pull-requests/creating-a-pull-request-from-a-fork) to fix it ♥
 ```
-````
 
 - [Quickstart](https://jupyterbook.org/en/stable/reference/cheatsheet.html)
 - [Full reference](https://jupyterbook.org/en/stable/content/myst.html)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index d5a91b2..7a66122 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 jupyter-book
-sphinxemoji
 sphinx-last-updated-by-git
 # TODO: remove after https://github.com/executablebooks/jupyter-book/pull/2048
 docutils!=0.18.*,!=0.19.*,!=0.20.0