diff --git a/docs/labwc-theme.5.scd b/docs/labwc-theme.5.scd
index a7d4459e..e892e4d7 100644
--- a/docs/labwc-theme.5.scd
+++ b/docs/labwc-theme.5.scd
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ labwc-config(5).
 *padding.height*
 	Vertical padding size, in pixels, used for spacing out elements
 	in the window decorations.
-	Default is 3.
+	Default is 0.
 
 *menu.items.padding.x*
 	Horizontal padding of menu text entries in pixels.
diff --git a/docs/themerc b/docs/themerc
index d6706c78..8fbf90e2 100644
--- a/docs/themerc
+++ b/docs/themerc
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 # general
 border.width: 1
 padding.width: 0
-padding.height: 3
+padding.height: 0
 
 # window border
 window.active.border.color: #e1dedb
diff --git a/src/theme.c b/src/theme.c
index 13bfe0ae..3b943f16 100644
--- a/src/theme.c
+++ b/src/theme.c
@@ -573,7 +573,7 @@ static void
 theme_builtin(struct theme *theme, struct server *server)
 {
 	theme->border_width = 1;
-	theme->padding_height = 3;
+	theme->padding_height = 0;
 	theme->title_height = INT_MIN;
 	theme->menu_overlap_x = 0;
 	theme->menu_overlap_y = 0;