Index: wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/components/page/content-front-page-panels.php
===================================================================
--- wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/components/page/content-front-page-panels.php	(revision 38871)
+++ wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/components/page/content-front-page-panels.php	(working copy)
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@
  * @version 1.0
  */
 
-global $twentyseventeencounter;
+global $active_panel;
 
 ?>
 
 <article id="post-<?php the_ID(); ?>" <?php post_class( 'twentyseventeen-panel ' ); ?> >
 
-	<span class="panel twentyseventeen-panel<?php echo esc_attr( $twentyseventeencounter ); ?>" id="panel<?php echo esc_attr( $twentyseventeencounter ); ?>">
-		<span class="twentyseventeen-panel-title"><?php printf( __( 'Panel %1$s', 'twentyseventeen' ), esc_attr( $twentyseventeencounter ) ); ?></span>
+	<span class="panel twentyseventeen-panel<?php echo esc_attr( $active_panel ); ?>" id="panel<?php echo esc_attr( $active_panel ); ?>">
+		<span class="twentyseventeen-panel-title"><?php printf( __( 'Panel %1$s', 'twentyseventeen' ), esc_attr( $active_panel ) ); ?></span>
 	</span>
 
 	<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) :
Index: wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/front-page.php
===================================================================
--- wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/front-page.php	(revision 38871)
+++ wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/front-page.php	(working copy)
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
  */
 
 get_header(); ?>
-
 <div id="primary" class="content-area">
 	<main id="main" class="site-main" role="main">
 
@@ -27,36 +26,27 @@
 		endif; ?>
 
 		<?php
-		// Get each of our panels and show the post data.
-		$panels = array( '1', '2', '3', '4' );
+		// Get each of our active panels and show the post data.
+		$active_panels = twentyseventeen_active_panels();
 		$titles = array();
+		
+		global $active_panel; // Used in components/page/content-front-page-panels.php file.
 
-		global $twentyseventeencounter; // Used in components/page/content-front-page-panels.php file.
+		if ( ! empty ( $active_panels ) ) : // If we have pages to show.
+			foreach ( $active_panels as $panel ) :
+				$active_panel = $panel;
+				$post = get_post( get_theme_mod( 'panel_' . $panel ) );
+				setup_postdata( $post );
+				set_query_var( 'panel', $panel );
 
-		if ( 0 !== twentyseventeen_panel_count() || is_customize_preview() ) : // If we have pages to show.
+				$titles[] = get_the_title(); // Put page titles in an array for use in navigation.
+				get_template_part( 'components/page/content', 'front-page-panels' );
 
-			$twentyseventeencounter = 1;
-
-			foreach ( $panels as $panel ) :
-				if ( get_theme_mod( 'panel_' . $panel ) ) :
-					$post = get_post( get_theme_mod( 'panel_' . $panel ) );
-					setup_postdata( $post );
-					set_query_var( 'panel', $panel );
-
-					$titles[] = get_the_title(); // Put page titles in an array for use in navigation.
-					get_template_part( 'components/page/content', 'front-page-panels' );
-
-					wp_reset_postdata();
-				else :
-					// The output placeholder anchor.
-					echo '<article class="panel-placeholder panel twentyseventeen-panel twentyseventeen-panel' . esc_attr( $twentyseventeencounter ) . '" id="panel' . esc_attr( $twentyseventeencounter ) . '"><span class="twentyseventeen-panel-title">' . sprintf( __( 'Panel %1$s Placeholder', 'twentyseventeen' ), esc_attr( $twentyseventeencounter ) ) . '</span></article>';
-				endif;
-
-				$twentyseventeencounter++;
+				wp_reset_postdata();
 			endforeach;
 			?>
 
-	<?php endif; // The if ( 0 !== twentyseventeen_panel_count() ) ends here.
+	<?php endif; // The if ( ! empty ( $active_panels ) ) ends here.
 	?>
 
 	</main><!-- #main -->
Index: wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/inc/template-functions.php
===================================================================
--- wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/inc/template-functions.php	(revision 38871)
+++ wp-content/themes/twentyseventeen/inc/template-functions.php	(working copy)
@@ -67,21 +67,19 @@
 add_filter( 'body_class', 'twentyseventeen_body_classes' );
 
 /**
- * Count our number of active panels.
- *
- * Primarily used to see if we have any panels active, duh.
+ * Get an array of active panels
  */
-function twentyseventeen_panel_count() {
+function twentyseventeen_active_panels() {
 	$panels = array( '1', '2', '3', '4' );
-	$panel_count = 0;
+	$active_panels = array();
 
-	foreach ( $panels as $panel ) {
+	foreach ( $panels as $panel ) {	
 		if ( get_theme_mod( 'panel_' . $panel ) ) {
-			$panel_count++;
+			array_push( $active_panels, $panel ); 
 		}
 	}
 
-	return $panel_count;
+	return $active_panels;
 }
 
 /**