diff --git a/docs/examples/pydata.ipynb b/docs/examples/pydata.ipynb
index 34a8da267..742a0b7c3 100644
--- a/docs/examples/pydata.ipynb
+++ b/docs/examples/pydata.ipynb
@@ -37,20 +37,6 @@
     "## Matplotlib"
    ]
   },
-  {
-   "cell_type": "code",
-   "execution_count": null,
-   "metadata": {
-    "nbsphinx": "hidden"
-   },
-   "outputs": [],
-   "source": [
-    "import matplotlib\n",
-    "\n",
-    "# avoid warnings upon doc build\n",
-    "matplotlib.set_loglevel(\"critical\")"
-   ]
-  },
   {
    "cell_type": "code",
    "execution_count": null,
@@ -69,11 +55,6 @@
    "metadata": {},
    "outputs": [],
    "source": [
-    "import matplotlib.pyplot as plt\n",
-    "import numpy as np\n",
-    "\n",
-    "matplotlib.set_loglevel(\"critical\")\n",
-    "\n",
     "rng = np.random.default_rng()\n",
     "data = rng.standard_normal((3, 100))\n",
     "fig, ax = plt.subplots()\n",
diff --git a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/utils.py b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/utils.py
index 9fccaea6f..db56af9f4 100644
--- a/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/utils.py
+++ b/src/pydata_sphinx_theme/utils.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 """General helpers for the management of config parameters."""
 
+import re
 from typing import Any, Dict, Iterator
 
 from docutils.nodes import Node
@@ -39,3 +40,9 @@ def traverse_or_findall(node: Node, condition: str, **kwargs) -> Iterator[Node]:
         if hasattr(node, "findall")
         else node.traverse(condition, **kwargs)
     )
+
+
+def escape_ansi(string: str) -> str:
+    """Helper function to remove ansi coloring from sphinx warnings."""
+    ansi_escape = re.compile(r"(\x9B|\x1B\[)[0-?]*[ -\/]*[@-~]")
+    return ansi_escape.sub("", string)
diff --git a/tests/intermittent_warning_list.txt b/tests/intermittent_warning_list.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f3d90d76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/intermittent_warning_list.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+WARNING: Cell printed to stderr:
+Matplotlib is building the font cache; this may take a moment.
diff --git a/tests/test_build.py b/tests/test_build.py
index 32d949d01..f22ec1f8c 100644
--- a/tests/test_build.py
+++ b/tests/test_build.py
@@ -5,12 +5,7 @@
 
 import pytest
 import sphinx.errors
-
-
-def escape_ansi(string: str) -> str:
-    """Helper function to remove ansi coloring from sphinx warnings."""
-    ansi_escape = re.compile(r"(\x9B|\x1B\[)[0-?]*[ -\/]*[@-~]")
-    return ansi_escape.sub("", string)
+from pydata_sphinx_theme.utils import escape_ansi
 
 
 def test_build_html(sphinx_build_factory, file_regression) -> None:
diff --git a/tests/utils/check_warnings.py b/tests/utils/check_warnings.py
index 9e790b835..726a81c7b 100644
--- a/tests/utils/check_warnings.py
+++ b/tests/utils/check_warnings.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 from colorama import Fore, init
+from pydata_sphinx_theme.utils import escape_ansi
 
 # init colors for all plateforms
 init()
@@ -27,30 +28,37 @@ def check_warnings(file: Path) -> bool:
 
     # find the file where all the known warnings are stored
     warning_file = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "warning_list.txt"
+    extra_warning_file = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "intermittent_warning_list.txt"
 
-    test_warnings = file.read_text().strip().split("\n")
-    ref_warnings = warning_file.read_text().strip().split("\n")
+    received_warnings = escape_ansi(file.read_text()).strip().split("\n")
+    expected_warnings = warning_file.read_text().strip().split("\n")
+    intermittent_warnings = extra_warning_file.read_text().strip().split("\n")
+    # filter out empty warnings (happens on notebooks for some reason)
+    received_warnings = list(filter(len, received_warnings))
 
     print(
         f'Checking build warnings in file: "{file}" and comparing to expected '
-        f'warnings defined in "{warning_file}"\n\n'
+        f'warnings defined in "{warning_file}" and "{extra_warning_file}"\n\n'
     )
 
-    # find all the missing warnings
-    missing_warnings = []
-    for wa in ref_warnings:
-        index = [i for i, twa in enumerate(test_warnings) if wa in twa]
-        if len(index) == 0:
-            missing_warnings += [wa]
-            print(f"{Fore.YELLOW}Warning was not raised: {Fore.RESET}{wa}\n")
-        else:
-            test_warnings.pop(index[0])
-
-    # the remaining one are unexpected
-    for twa in test_warnings:
-        print(f"{Fore.YELLOW}Unexpected warning: {Fore.RESET}{twa}\n")
-
-    return len(missing_warnings) != 0 or len(test_warnings) != 0
+    for exp_w in expected_warnings[::-1] + intermittent_warnings[::-1]:
+        found = False
+        for rec_w in received_warnings:
+            if exp_w in rec_w:
+                received_warnings.remove(rec_w)
+                if exp_w in expected_warnings:
+                    expected_warnings.remove(exp_w)
+                elif exp_w in intermittent_warnings:
+                    intermittent_warnings.remove(exp_w)
+                found = True
+                break
+        # alert only if an *always expected* warning wasn't raised (not intermittent)
+        if not found and exp_w not in intermittent_warnings:
+            print(f"{Fore.YELLOW}Warning was not raised: {Fore.RESET}{exp_w}\n")
+    # warn about unexpected warnings
+    for rec_w in received_warnings[::-1]:
+        print(f"{Fore.YELLOW}Unexpected warning: {Fore.RESET}{rec_w}\n")
+    return len(received_warnings) or len(expected_warnings)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":