diff --git a/11ty/CustomLiquid.ts b/11ty/CustomLiquid.ts
index 72f5357ceb..6b1a4394b6 100644
--- a/11ty/CustomLiquid.ts
+++ b/11ty/CustomLiquid.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import type { Cheerio, Element } from "cheerio";
 import { Liquid, type Template } from "liquidjs";
 import type { RenderOptions } from "liquidjs/dist/liquid-options";
 import compact from "lodash-es/compact";
@@ -8,7 +7,7 @@ import { basename } from "path";
 
 import type { GlobalData } from "eleventy.config";
 
-import { flattenDom, load } from "./cheerio";
+import { flattenDom, load, type CheerioAnyNode } from "./cheerio";
 import { generateId } from "./common";
 import { getAcknowledgementsForVersion, getTermsMap } from "./guidelines";
 import { resolveTechniqueIdFromHref, understandingToTechniqueLinkSelector } from "./techniques";
@@ -61,7 +60,7 @@ const normalizeTocLabel = (label: string) =>
  * expand to a link with the full technique ID and title.
  * @param $el a $()-wrapped link element
  */
-function expandTechniqueLink($el: Cheerio<Element>) {
+function expandTechniqueLink($el: CheerioAnyNode) {
   const href = $el.attr("href");
   if (!href) throw new Error("expandTechniqueLink: non-link element encountered");
   const id = resolveTechniqueIdFromHref(href);
@@ -407,7 +406,7 @@ export class CustomLiquid extends Liquid {
       // Process defined terms within #render,
       // where we have access to global data and the about box's HTML
       const $termLinks = $(termLinkSelector);
-      const extractTermName = ($el: Cheerio<Element>) => {
+      const extractTermName = ($el: CheerioAnyNode) => {
         const name = $el
           .text()
           .toLowerCase()
@@ -432,7 +431,7 @@ export class CustomLiquid extends Liquid {
         });
       } else if (scope.isUnderstanding) {
         const $termsList = $("section#key-terms dl");
-        const extractTermNames = ($links: Cheerio<Element>) =>
+        const extractTermNames = ($links: CheerioAnyNode) =>
           compact(uniq($links.toArray().map((el) => extractTermName($(el)))));
 
         if ($termLinks.length) {
diff --git a/11ty/cheerio.ts b/11ty/cheerio.ts
index f1292be14b..72f3c65008 100644
--- a/11ty/cheerio.ts
+++ b/11ty/cheerio.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import { dirname, resolve } from "path";
 
 export { load } from "cheerio";
 
+/** Superset of the type returned by any Cheerio $() call. */
+export type CheerioAnyNode = ReturnType<ReturnType<typeof load>>;
+
 /** Convenience function that combines readFile and load. */
 export const loadFromFile = async (
   inputPath: string,
diff --git a/11ty/guidelines.ts b/11ty/guidelines.ts
index e033c0964e..b4501461bb 100644
--- a/11ty/guidelines.ts
+++ b/11ty/guidelines.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import axios from "axios";
-import type { Cheerio, CheerioAPI, Element } from "cheerio";
+import type { CheerioAPI } from "cheerio";
 import { glob } from "glob";
 
 import { readFile } from "fs/promises";
 import { basename } from "path";
 
-import { flattenDomFromFile, load } from "./cheerio";
+import { flattenDomFromFile, load, type CheerioAnyNode } from "./cheerio";
 import { generateId } from "./common";
 
 export type WcagVersion = "20" | "21" | "22";
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ const contentIgnores = [
  * Returns HTML content used for Understanding guideline/SC boxes.
  * @param $el Cheerio element of the full section from flattened guidelines/index.html
  */
-const getContentHtml = ($el: Cheerio<Element>) => {
+const getContentHtml = ($el: CheerioAnyNode) => {
   // Load HTML into a new instance, remove elements we don't want, then return the remainder
   const $ = load($el.html()!, null, false);
   $(contentIgnores.join(", ")).remove();