diff --git a/frontend/static/robots.txt b/frontend/static/robots.txt
index c999d55ab..e0defabb9 100644
--- a/frontend/static/robots.txt
+++ b/frontend/static/robots.txt
@@ -1 +1,6 @@
-Sitemap: https://jsr.io/sitemap.xml
\ No newline at end of file
+User-agent: *
+# Versioned doc pages (/@scope/pkg@1.2.3/doc/...) only redirect to the
+# versionless docs of the latest version, so crawling them is pure waste.
+Disallow: /@*/*@*/doc
+
+Sitemap: https://jsr.io/sitemap.xml
diff --git a/frontend/utils/data.ts b/frontend/utils/data.ts
index 4ac66d74e..5906b38cf 100644
--- a/frontend/utils/data.ts
+++ b/frontend/utils/data.ts
@@ -105,16 +105,42 @@ export async function packageDataWithDocs(
   version: string | undefined,
   docs: DocsRequest,
 ): Promise<PackageVersionDocsRedirect | DocsData | Response | null> {
-  let [data, pkgDocsResp] = await Promise.all([
-    packageData(state, scope, pkg),
-    state.api.get<PackageVersionDocs>(
-      path`/scopes/${scope}/packages/${pkg}/versions/${
-        version || "latest"
-      }/docs`,
+  let data: PackageData | null;
+  let pkgDocsResp: APIResponse<PackageVersionDocs> | null;
+  if (version) {
+    // The API only serves docs for the latest unyanked version and rejects
+    // every other pinned version with `docsOnlyForLatestVersion`. Crawlers
+    // walk huge numbers of old versioned symbol URLs, so decide locally from
+    // `latestVersion` (computed by the same query the docs endpoint uses)
+    // instead of paying for a docs request that is guaranteed to fail.
+    // `latestVersion` is null when only prereleases exist; the API is the
+    // authority in that case.
+    data = await packageData(state, scope, pkg);
+    if (data === null) return null;
+    if (data.pkg.latestVersion !== null && data.pkg.latestVersion !== version) {
+      return await nonLatestVersionDocs(
+        state,
+        scope,
+        pkg,
+        version,
+        docs,
+        data,
+      );
+    }
+    pkgDocsResp = await state.api.get<PackageVersionDocs>(
+      path`/scopes/${scope}/packages/${pkg}/versions/${version}/docs`,
       docs,
-    ) as Promise<APIResponse<PackageVersionDocs> | null>,
-  ]);
-  if (data === null) return null;
+    );
+  } else {
+    [data, pkgDocsResp] = await Promise.all([
+      packageData(state, scope, pkg),
+      state.api.get<PackageVersionDocs>(
+        path`/scopes/${scope}/packages/${pkg}/versions/latest/docs`,
+        docs,
+      ) as Promise<APIResponse<PackageVersionDocs> | null>,
+    ]);
+    if (data === null) return null;
+  }
 
   if (pkgDocsResp && !pkgDocsResp.ok) {
     if (pkgDocsResp.code === "packageVersionNotFound") {
@@ -127,35 +153,14 @@ export async function packageDataWithDocs(
       if (pkgDocsResp.code === "scopeNotFound") return null;
       if (pkgDocsResp.code === "packageNotFound") return null;
       if (pkgDocsResp.code === "docsOnlyForLatestVersion") {
-        if ("entrypoint" in docs || "all_symbols" in docs) {
-          // Docs are only served for the latest version; redirect to the
-          // canonical (versionless) docs URL for the latest version.
-          return new Response(null, {
-            status: 302,
-            headers: {
-              Location: `/@${scope}/${pkg}/doc${compileDocsRequestPath(docs)}`,
-            },
-          });
-        }
-
-        // The package overview page of a non-latest version: render it
-        // without docs instead of redirecting away from the version.
-        const pkgVersionResp = await state.api.get<PackageVersionWithUser>(
-          path`/scopes/${scope}/packages/${pkg}/versions/${version!}`,
+        return await nonLatestVersionDocs(
+          state,
+          scope,
+          pkg,
+          version!,
+          docs,
+          data,
         );
-        if (!pkgVersionResp.ok) {
-          if (pkgVersionResp.code === "packageVersionNotFound") return null;
-          if (pkgVersionResp.code === "scopeNotFound") return null;
-          if (pkgVersionResp.code === "packageNotFound") return null;
-          assertOk(pkgVersionResp);
-        }
-        return {
-          ...data,
-          kind: "content",
-          selectedVersion: pkgVersionResp.data,
-          selectedVersionIsLatestUnyanked: false,
-          docs: null,
-        };
       }
       if (pkgDocsResp.code === "entrypointOrSymbolNotFound") {
         // redirect to all symbols page if there is no default entrypoint
@@ -203,6 +208,53 @@ export async function packageDataWithDocs(
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Docs for a pinned version that is not the latest unyanked version. Doc pages
+ * redirect to the canonical (versionless) URL, which serves the latest
+ * version; the package overview page is rendered without docs so the version
+ * stays visible.
+ */
+async function nonLatestVersionDocs(
+  state: State,
+  scope: string,
+  pkg: string,
+  version: string,
+  docs: DocsRequest,
+  data: PackageData,
+): Promise<DocsData | Response | null> {
+  if ("entrypoint" in docs || "all_symbols" in docs) {
+    return new Response(null, {
+      status: 302,
+      headers: {
+        Location: `/@${scope}/${pkg}/doc${compileDocsRequestPath(docs)}`,
+        // The target is derived from the URL alone, and an old version only
+        // becomes the latest again if every newer version is yanked (in which
+        // case the versionless URL serves it anyway), so the edge can absorb
+        // repeat hits. Mirrors the versioned doc pages' policy.
+        "Cache-Control":
+          "public, max-age=30, s-maxage=3600, stale-while-revalidate=10800",
+      },
+    });
+  }
+
+  const pkgVersionResp = await state.api.get<PackageVersionWithUser>(
+    path`/scopes/${scope}/packages/${pkg}/versions/${version}`,
+  );
+  if (!pkgVersionResp.ok) {
+    if (pkgVersionResp.code === "packageVersionNotFound") return null;
+    if (pkgVersionResp.code === "scopeNotFound") return null;
+    if (pkgVersionResp.code === "packageNotFound") return null;
+    assertOk(pkgVersionResp);
+  }
+  return {
+    ...data,
+    kind: "content",
+    selectedVersion: pkgVersionResp.data,
+    selectedVersionIsLatestUnyanked: false,
+    docs: null,
+  };
+}
+
 export interface DocsData extends PackageData {
   kind: "content";
   selectedVersion: PackageVersionWithUser | null;