diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 0e4d611..6b5693a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ The entries below are relative to the `zcash_primitives::sapling` module as of
   - `SpendDescriptionInfo::value`
   - `SaplingOutputInfo`
   - `ProverProgress`
+  - `PaddingRule`
 - `sapling_crypto::bundle` module:
   - The following types moved from
     `zcash_primitives::transaction::components::sapling`:
@@ -102,6 +103,10 @@ The entries below are relative to the `zcash_primitives::sapling` module as of
     generic parameters and returns `(UnauthorizedBundle, SaplingMetadata)`. The
     caller can then use `Bundle::<InProgress<Unproven, _>>::create_proofs` to
     create spend and output proofs for the bundle.
+  - `SaplingBuilder::build` now takes a `PaddingRule` argument that instructs
+    it how to pad the bundle with dummy outputs.
+  - `SaplingBuilder::bundle_output_count` has been changed to use a padding
+    rule to compute its result. 
   - `Error` has new error variants:
     - `Error::DuplicateSignature`
     - `Error::InvalidExternalSignature`
diff --git a/src/builder.rs b/src/builder.rs
index be084af..5966a0ea 100644
--- a/src/builder.rs
+++ b/src/builder.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,36 @@ use crate::{
 /// with dummy outputs if necessary. See <https://github.com/zcash/zcash/issues/3615>.
 const MIN_SHIELDED_OUTPUTS: usize = 2;
 
+/// An enumeration of rules for construction of dummy outputs that may be applied to Sapling bundle
+/// construction.
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum PaddingRule {
+    /// A rule that requires that at least the specified number of Sapling outputs is constructed,
+    /// irrespective of whether any genuine outputs are being included. If no padding is to be
+    /// performed, `Require(0)` may be used.
+    Require(usize),
+    /// A rule that requires that at least the specified number of Sapling outputs are constructed,
+    /// iff any genuine outputs are being included.
+    PadTo(usize),
+}
+
+impl PaddingRule {
+    pub const DEFAULT: PaddingRule = PaddingRule::PadTo(MIN_SHIELDED_OUTPUTS);
+
+    pub fn num_outputs(&self, real_outputs: usize) -> usize {
+        match self {
+            PaddingRule::Require(n) => std::cmp::max(real_outputs, *n),
+            PaddingRule::PadTo(n) => {
+                if real_outputs == 0 {
+                    0
+                } else {
+                    std::cmp::max(real_outputs, *n)
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub enum Error {
     AnchorMismatch,
@@ -318,12 +348,8 @@ impl SaplingBuilder {
     ///
     /// This may be larger than the number of outputs that have been added to the builder,
     /// depending on whether padding is going to be applied.
-    pub fn bundle_output_count(&self) -> usize {
-        // This matches the padding behaviour in `Self::build`.
-        match self.spends.len() {
-            0 => self.outputs.len(),
-            _ => std::cmp::max(MIN_SHIELDED_OUTPUTS, self.outputs.len()),
-        }
+    pub fn bundle_output_count(&self, padding_rule: &PaddingRule) -> usize {
+        padding_rule.num_outputs(self.outputs.len())
     }
 
     /// Returns the net value represented by the spends and outputs added to this builder,
@@ -405,8 +431,10 @@ impl SaplingBuilder {
     pub fn build<SP: SpendProver, OP: OutputProver, R: RngCore, V: TryFrom<i64>>(
         self,
         mut rng: R,
+        padding_rule: &PaddingRule,
     ) -> Result<Option<(UnauthorizedBundle<V>, SaplingMetadata)>, Error> {
         let value_balance = self.try_value_balance()?;
+        let bundle_output_count = self.bundle_output_count(padding_rule);
 
         // Record initial positions of spends and outputs
         let mut indexed_spends: Vec<_> = self.spends.into_iter().enumerate().collect();
@@ -425,7 +453,7 @@ impl SaplingBuilder {
 
         // Pad Sapling outputs
         if !indexed_spends.is_empty() {
-            while indexed_outputs.len() < MIN_SHIELDED_OUTPUTS {
+            while indexed_outputs.len() < bundle_output_count {
                 indexed_outputs.push(None);
             }
         }
@@ -876,7 +904,7 @@ pub mod testing {
         frontier::testing::arb_commitment_tree, witness::IncrementalWitness,
     };
 
-    use super::SaplingBuilder;
+    use super::{PaddingRule, SaplingBuilder};
 
     #[allow(dead_code)]
     fn arb_bundle<V: fmt::Debug + From<i64>>(
@@ -913,7 +941,10 @@ pub mod testing {
                     }
 
                     let (bundle, _) = builder
-                        .build::<MockSpendProver, MockOutputProver, _, _>(&mut rng)
+                        .build::<MockSpendProver, MockOutputProver, _, _>(
+                            &mut rng,
+                            &PaddingRule::DEFAULT,
+                        )
                         .unwrap()
                         .unwrap();