diff --git a/doc/sphinxext/contrib_avatars.py b/doc/sphinxext/contrib_avatars.py
index 04583ac4c77..299e074dd4d 100644
--- a/doc/sphinxext/contrib_avatars.py
+++ b/doc/sphinxext/contrib_avatars.py
@@ -3,12 +3,14 @@
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
 
+from mne.utils import _replace_md5
+
 
 def generate_contrib_avatars(app, config):
     """Render a template webpage with avatars generated by JS and a GitHub API call."""
     root = Path(app.srcdir)
     infile = root / "sphinxext" / "_avatar_template.html"
-    outfile = root / "_templates" / "avatars.html"
+    outfile = root / "_templates" / "avatars.html.new"
     if os.getenv("MNE_ADD_CONTRIBUTOR_IMAGE", "false").lower() != "true":
         body = """\
 <p>Contributor avators will appear here in full doc builds. Set \
@@ -36,6 +38,7 @@ def generate_contrib_avatars(app, config):
         driver.quit()
     with open(outfile, "w") as fid:
         fid.write(body)
+    _replace_md5(str(outfile))
 
 
 def setup(app):
diff --git a/doc/sphinxext/gen_commands.py b/doc/sphinxext/gen_commands.py
index 730d3e47caf..c369bba6db0 100644
--- a/doc/sphinxext/gen_commands.py
+++ b/doc/sphinxext/gen_commands.py
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 # License: BSD-3-Clause
 # Copyright the MNE-Python contributors.
 import glob
-import os
-import shutil
 from importlib import import_module
 from pathlib import Path
 
-from mne.utils import ArgvSetter, hashfunc
+from mne.utils import ArgvSetter, _replace_md5
 
 
 def setup(app):
@@ -108,17 +106,6 @@ def generate_commands_rst(app=None):
     _replace_md5(str(out_fname))
 
 
-def _replace_md5(fname):
-    """Replace a file based on MD5sum."""
-    # adapted from sphinx-gallery
-    assert fname.endswith(".new")
-    fname_old = fname[:-4]
-    if os.path.isfile(fname_old) and hashfunc(fname) == hashfunc(fname_old):
-        os.remove(fname)
-    else:
-        shutil.move(fname, fname_old)
-
-
 # This is useful for testing/iterating to see what the result looks like
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     generate_commands_rst()
diff --git a/mne/utils/__init__.pyi b/mne/utils/__init__.pyi
index 2eaa9aba6ad..46d272e972d 100644
--- a/mne/utils/__init__.pyi
+++ b/mne/utils/__init__.pyi
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ __all__ = [
     "_reg_pinv",
     "_reject_data_segments",
     "_repeated_svd",
+    "_replace_md5",
     "_require_version",
     "_resource_path",
     "_safe_input",
@@ -361,6 +362,7 @@ from .numerics import (
     _mask_to_onsets_offsets,
     _reg_pinv,
     _reject_data_segments,
+    _replace_md5,
     _ReuseCycle,
     _scaled_array,
     _stamp_to_dt,
diff --git a/mne/utils/numerics.py b/mne/utils/numerics.py
index 053f04362ec..433c1eb6445 100644
--- a/mne/utils/numerics.py
+++ b/mne/utils/numerics.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 import inspect
 import numbers
 import operator
+import os
+import shutil
 import sys
 from contextlib import contextmanager
 from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta, timezone
@@ -1104,3 +1106,14 @@ def _array_repr(x):
     """Produce compact info about float ndarray x."""
     assert isinstance(x, np.ndarray), type(x)
     return f"shape : {x.shape}, range : [{np.nanmin(x):+0.2g}, {np.nanmax(x):+0.2g}]"
+
+
+def _replace_md5(fname):
+    """Replace a file based on MD5sum."""
+    # adapted from sphinx-gallery
+    assert fname.endswith(".new")
+    fname_old = fname[:-4]
+    if os.path.isfile(fname_old) and hashfunc(fname) == hashfunc(fname_old):
+        os.remove(fname)
+    else:
+        shutil.move(fname, fname_old)
diff --git a/mne/utils/tests/test_numerics.py b/mne/utils/tests/test_numerics.py
index 599b8d27bfb..3c1eadf74cd 100644
--- a/mne/utils/tests/test_numerics.py
+++ b/mne/utils/tests/test_numerics.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
     _get_inst_data,
     _julian_to_date,
     _reg_pinv,
+    _replace_md5,
     _ReuseCycle,
     _time_mask,
     _undo_scaling_array,
@@ -602,3 +603,20 @@ def my_fun_2(*args):
     with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="Unsupported sparse type"):
         my_fun_2(1, _eye_array(1, format="coo"))
     assert n_calls == [2, 2]  # never did any computation
+
+
+def test_replace_md5(tmp_path):
+    """Test _replace_md5."""
+    old = tmp_path / "test"
+    new = old.with_suffix(".new")
+    old.write_text("abcd")
+    new.write_text("abcde")
+    assert old.is_file()
+    assert new.is_file()
+    _replace_md5(str(new))
+    assert not new.is_file()
+    assert old.read_text() == "abcde"
+    new.write_text(old.read_text())
+    _replace_md5(str(new))
+    assert old.read_text() == "abcde"
+    assert not new.is_file()