diff --git a/bookwyrm/forms.py b/bookwyrm/forms.py
index f152ed4ea..7cfbe6283 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/forms.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/forms.py
@@ -468,7 +468,12 @@ class ThemeForm(CustomForm):
         fields = ["name", "path"]
         widgets = {
             "name": forms.TextInput(attrs={"aria-describedby": "desc_name"}),
-            "path": forms.Select(attrs={"aria-describedby": "desc_path"}),
+            "path": forms.TextInput(
+                attrs={
+                    "aria-describedby": "desc_path",
+                    "placeholder": "css/themes/theme-name.scss",
+                }
+            ),
         }
 
 
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/settings/themes.html b/bookwyrm/templates/settings/themes.html
index 44d0cecec..3d4d83dec 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/settings/themes.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/settings/themes.html
@@ -56,12 +56,7 @@
         class="box"
         enctype="multipart/form-data"
     >
-    {% if not choices %}
-    <div class="notification is-warning">
-        {% trans "No available theme files detected" %}
-    </div>
-    {% endif %}
-    <fieldset {% if not choices %}disabled{% endif %}>
+    <fieldset>
         {% csrf_token %}
         <div class="columns">
             <div class="column is-half">
@@ -79,20 +74,7 @@
                     {% trans "Theme filename" %}
                 </label>
                 <div class="control">
-                    <div class="select">
-                        <select
-                            name="path"
-                            aria-describedby="desc_path"
-                            class=""
-                            id="id_path"
-                        >
-                            {% for choice in choices %}
-                            <option value="{{ choice }}">
-                                {{ choice }}
-                            </option>
-                            {% endfor %}
-                        </select>
-                    </div>
+                    {{ theme_form.path }}
                     {% include 'snippets/form_errors.html' with errors_list=theme_form.path.errors id="desc_path" %}
                 </div>
             </div>
diff --git a/bookwyrm/views/admin/themes.py b/bookwyrm/views/admin/themes.py
index 12b449afb..ae9a748d3 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/views/admin/themes.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/views/admin/themes.py
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 """ manage themes """
 from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required, permission_required
-from django.contrib.staticfiles.utils import get_files
-from django.contrib.staticfiles.storage import StaticFilesStorage
 from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, redirect
 from django.template.response import TemplateResponse
 from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator
@@ -41,11 +39,8 @@ class Themes(View):
 
 def get_view_data():
     """data for view"""
-    choices = list(get_files(StaticFilesStorage(), location="css/themes"))
-    current = models.Theme.objects.values_list("path", flat=True)
     return {
         "themes": models.Theme.objects.all(),
-        "choices": [c for c in choices if c not in current and c[-5:] == ".scss"],
         "theme_form": forms.ThemeForm(),
     }