diff --git a/component-library/components/cta/cta.hugo.html b/component-library/components/cta/cta.hugo.html
index 2cd26f0..b2602bb 100644
--- a/component-library/components/cta/cta.hugo.html
+++ b/component-library/components/cta/cta.hugo.html
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@
 			"component-name" "cta"
 			"id"             .id
 			"raw"            $raw
+			"padding"        .padding
 			"background"     .background
 			"width"          .width
 			"justify"        .justify
diff --git a/component-library/components/panels/panels.hugo.html b/component-library/components/panels/panels.hugo.html
index d9ff94f..bb422ca 100644
--- a/component-library/components/panels/panels.hugo.html
+++ b/component-library/components/panels/panels.hugo.html
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@
             "component-name" "panels"
             "id"             .id
             "raw"            $raw
+            "padding"        .padding
             "background"     .background
             "width"          .width
             "justify"        .justify
diff --git a/data/structures/section.yml b/data/structures/section.yml
index fd4f2c8..14736fe 100644
--- a/data/structures/section.yml
+++ b/data/structures/section.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,19 @@ arguments:
       bookshop folder.
   raw:
   passthrough:
+  padding:
+    type: int
+    optional: true
+    default:
+    comment: >-
+      Overrides the section's vertical padding, replacing the site-wide `y`
+      value from the `padding` configuration. Accepts 0 through 5. Horizontal
+      padding is unaffected: it is the page gutter, shared by every section.
+      Falls back to the site setting when omitted. The empty `default:` above is
+      load-bearing: it overrides the `default: 3` this argument would otherwise
+      inherit from the shared definition in mod-utils, which would make an
+      omitted value indistinguishable from a supplied one and repad every
+      section. The inherited 0-5 range still applies.
   background:
   width:
     default: 12
diff --git a/layouts/partials/utilities/section.html b/layouts/partials/utilities/section.html
index b9e3532..c399be2 100644
--- a/layouts/partials/utilities/section.html
+++ b/layouts/partials/utilities/section.html
@@ -18,6 +18,33 @@
 {{ end }}
 
 {{- $padding := partial "utilities/GetPadding.html" -}}
+
+{{/* Optional per-section vertical padding override.
+
+     The `padding` argument inherits the shared definition in mod-utils
+     `data/structures/_arguments.yml`, which carries `default: 3`. That default
+     would arrive whenever a caller omits the argument, making "not supplied"
+     indistinguishable from "supplied" and silently repadding every section.
+     `data/structures/section.yml` therefore redeclares `padding` with an empty
+     `default:`, which overrides the inherited one and restores a real nil. The
+     inherited `options` (0-5) still apply, so validation is unchanged.
+
+     Compared against nil rather than tested for truthiness: 0 is a legitimate
+     value that `with` or `| default` would silently discard.
+
+     The override replaces the y axis only. x is the page gutter — letting one
+     block change it would misalign that section against every other section on
+     the page, and it also feeds the outer container. Any mobile y override is
+     dropped along with it, since that value was derived from the site setting
+     the author is replacing; the override then applies at every width. */}}
+{{- if ne $args.padding nil -}}
+    {{- $revised := dict "x" $padding.x "y" (int $args.padding) -}}
+    {{- if isset $padding "mobileX" -}}
+        {{- $revised = merge $revised (dict "mobileX" (index $padding "mobileX")) -}}
+    {{- end -}}
+    {{- $padding = $revised -}}
+{{- end -}}
+
 {{- $page := or $args.page page -}}
 {{- $embed := $args.embed | default false }}
 {{- $paddingTop := and $embed (eq $args._ordinal 0) }}