diff -rup panels/includes/display-render.inc panels_new/includes/display-render.inc
--- panels/includes/display-render.inc	2010-07-27 07:24:22.000000000 +1000
+++ includes/display-render.inc	2010-09-20 17:24:43.000000000 +1000
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ function panels_render_pane($content, $p
       $display->stored_pane_title = !empty($content->title) ? $content->title : '';
     }
   }
-
-  if (!empty($content->content)) {
+  // Empty cck fields still output <!-- /content-field -->, so check that too.
+  if (!empty($content->content) && trim($content->content) != '<!-- /content-field -->') {
     if (!empty($pane->style['style'])) {
       $style = panels_get_style($pane->style['style']);