diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-website.yml b/.github/workflows/build-website.yml
index 7ccd4258e3..e9d3c6a7cf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-website.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-website.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Build the static website
       run: bundle exec jekyll build
+    
+    # copy the versions.yml file to the root of the _site folder
+    - name: Copy versions.yml to _site
+      run: cp _data/versions.yml _site/versions.yml
 
     # Publish the build results
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 58d3c5c389..34f882161b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ The project is built automatically by GitHub Actions whenever the `master` branc
 itself should not be deployed, as it only contains the source files. The built version of the website is available as the
 `published` branch instead.
 
+The deployed website has to serve a file for the editor to read and check if there are new versions of the Engine available to 
+download. This file is `_data/versions.yml`. It gets copied to `_site/versions.yml` when the website is built using the GitHub
+Action described in `.github/workflows/build-website.yml`.
+
 Note that this is not relevant for local development. Locally you would build the website in place and then serve the `_site`
 folder. See the detailed instructions above.