diff --git a/.changeset/empty-space-section-download.md b/.changeset/empty-space-section-download.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d16fee92e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/empty-space-section-download.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"gitbook": patch
+---
+
+Apply the cached-404 guard on top of the regional cache, so a section linked to an empty space is no longer served as a broken 200 response.