diff --git a/generator/markdown.py b/generator/markdown.py
index cd056f9..2d75e95 100644
--- a/generator/markdown.py
+++ b/generator/markdown.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import mistune.toc
 import pygments
 import pygments.lexers
 import pygments.formatters
+import html
 
 
 class LevelAdjustingHTMLRenderer(mistune.HTMLRenderer):
@@ -89,4 +90,5 @@ def create(
 
 
 def render_toc_from_state(render_state: dict[str, Any], min_level: int = 1) -> str:
-    return mistune.toc.render_toc_ul(filter(lambda x: x[0] >= min_level, render_state.env["toc_items"]))
+    # hilarious note: if you supply a raw filter object, this dies. hence the cast to list. see https://github.com/lepture/mistune/pull/407
+    return mistune.toc.render_toc_ul(list(filter(lambda x: x[0] >= min_level, render_state.env["toc_items"])))
diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index cef4b8d..a7b44b4 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -282,4 +282,4 @@ files = [
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.0"
 python-versions = "^3.10"
-content-hash = "e9b4ebba9c7c7c01dc374f54ee71e90cc08f549ae8fa175cf7c651407fd744d0"
+content-hash = "d7f23cd48511949feb0baad457ed037727428a0cb01b734c4437d5831254a7eb"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 32c4801..28d015a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Jinja2 = "^3.1.2"
 PyYAML = "^6.0.1"
 fire = "^0.7.0"
 rich = "^13.7.0"
-mistune = "^3.0.2"
+mistune = "^3.1.0"
 pygments = "^2.17.2"
 
 
diff --git a/site/content/_imports/toc.html b/site/content/_imports/toc.html
index 1d28203..ffa3ff4 100644
--- a/site/content/_imports/toc.html
+++ b/site/content/_imports/toc.html
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 {# :t content = str #}
 {% macro render(content) -%}
+{% if content != "" %}
 <div class="toc-container">
     <div class="header"><span class="font--monospace-bold h4">On this page</span></div>
     <div class="content">{{ content | safe }}</div>
 </div>
+{% endif %}
 {%- endmacro %}
\ No newline at end of file