diff --git a/django/contrib/admindocs/utils.py b/django/contrib/admindocs/utils.py
index 4d9403a6f7ee..334d9907eaee 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admindocs/utils.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admindocs/utils.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
     import docutils.core
     import docutils.nodes
     import docutils.parsers.rst.roles
-    import docutils.writers
 except ImportError:
     docutils_is_available = False
 else:
@@ -79,14 +78,11 @@ def parse_rst(text, default_reference_context, thing_being_parsed=None):
 
 .. default-role::
 """
-    # In docutils < 0.22, the `writer` param must be an instance. Passing a
-    # string writer name like "html" is only supported in 0.22+.
-    writer_instance = docutils.writers.get_writer_class("html")()
     parts = docutils.core.publish_parts(
         source % text,
         source_path=thing_being_parsed,
         destination_path=None,
-        writer=writer_instance,
+        writer="html",
         settings_overrides=overrides,
     )
     return mark_safe(parts["fragment"])
diff --git a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
index 1c993f5fc646..f5d09358595a 100644
--- a/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
+++ b/docs/internals/contributing/writing-code/unit-tests.txt
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ dependencies:
 * :pypi:`asgiref` 3.9.1+ (required)
 * :pypi:`bcrypt` 4.1.1+
 * :pypi:`colorama` 0.4.6+
-* :pypi:`docutils` 0.19+
+* :pypi:`docutils` 0.22+
 * :pypi:`geoip2` 4.8.0+
 * :pypi:`Jinja2` 2.11+
 * :pypi:`numpy` 1.26.0+
diff --git a/docs/ref/contrib/admin/admindocs.txt b/docs/ref/contrib/admin/admindocs.txt
index 5a605748ad55..b3c32716d0bc 100644
--- a/docs/ref/contrib/admin/admindocs.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/contrib/admin/admindocs.txt
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ the following:
   your ``urlpatterns``. Make sure it's included *before* the
   ``'admin/'`` entry, so that requests to ``/admin/doc/`` don't get
   handled by the latter entry.
-* Install the :pypi:`docutils` 0.19+ package.
+* Install the :pypi:`docutils` 0.22+ package.
 * **Optional:** Using the admindocs bookmarklets requires
   ``django.contrib.admindocs.middleware.XViewMiddleware`` to be installed.
 
diff --git a/docs/releases/6.0.txt b/docs/releases/6.0.txt
index 6e213f890aea..8ba1b456b397 100644
--- a/docs/releases/6.0.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/6.0.txt
@@ -399,6 +399,7 @@ of each library are the first to add or confirm compatibility with Python 3.12:
 * ``aiosmtpd`` 1.4.5
 * ``argon2-cffi`` 23.1.0
 * ``bcrypt`` 4.1.1
+* ``docutils`` 0.22
 * ``geoip2`` 4.8.0
 * ``Pillow`` 10.1.0
 * ``mysqlclient`` 2.2.1
diff --git a/tests/requirements/py3.txt b/tests/requirements/py3.txt
index 7ecc3ad0442d..311f4634f0ee 100644
--- a/tests/requirements/py3.txt
+++ b/tests/requirements/py3.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ asgiref >= 3.9.1
 argon2-cffi >= 23.1.0
 bcrypt >= 4.1.1
 black >= 25.1.0
-docutils >= 0.19
+docutils >= 0.22
 geoip2 >= 4.8.0
 jinja2 >= 2.11.0
 numpy >= 1.26.0