diff --git a/lib/less/functions.js b/lib/less/functions.js
index b077123e6..f847b5e12 100644
--- a/lib/less/functions.js
+++ b/lib/less/functions.js
@@ -342,7 +342,39 @@ tree.functions = {
     },
     shade: function(color, amount) {
         return this.mix(this.rgb(0, 0, 0), color, amount);
+    },
+
+    /* Shorthand Extraction */
+
+    top: function(n) {
+        return this._extractPadding('top', n);
+    },
+    right: function(n) {
+        return this._extractPadding('right', n);
+    },
+    bottom: function(n) {
+        return this._extractPadding('bottom', n);
+    },
+    left: function(n) {
+        return this._extractPadding('left', n);
+    },
+    _extractPadding: function(property, n) {
+        if (n instanceof tree.Dimension) {
+            return n;
+        } else if (n && typeof(n.length) === 'number') {
+            // Extract the padding property from the shorthand value:
+            var index = ['top', 'right', 'bottom', 'left'].indexOf(property);
+            if (n.length === 3 && index === 3) {
+                // left(1px 2px 3px) should return "2px"; this is the only case where the math would be complicated
+                return n[1];
+            } else {
+                return n[index % n.length];
+            }
+        } else {
+            throw { type: "Argument", message: "argument must be a Dimension" };
+        }
     }
+
 };
 
 function hsla(color) {
diff --git a/test/css/functions.css b/test/css/functions.css
index bf612d4e5..0878c5d13 100644
--- a/test/css/functions.css
+++ b/test/css/functions.css
@@ -98,3 +98,21 @@
   average: #7b007b;
   negation: #d73131;
 }
+#padding-extraction {
+  top: 1px;
+  right: 2px;
+  bottom: 3px;
+  left: 4px;
+  top: 1px;
+  right: 2px;
+  bottom: 3px;
+  left: 2px;
+  top: 1px;
+  right: 2px;
+  bottom: 1px;
+  left: 2px;
+  top: 1px;
+  right: 1px;
+  bottom: 1px;
+  left: 1px;
+}
diff --git a/test/less/functions.less b/test/less/functions.less
index 8b80cccc1..fe11fdf45 100644
--- a/test/less/functions.less
+++ b/test/less/functions.less
@@ -109,3 +109,33 @@
   average: average(#f60000, #0000f6);
   negation: negation(#f60000, #313131);
 }
+
+#padding-extraction {
+  // Four:
+  @pad: 1px 2px 3px 4px;
+  top: top(@pad);
+  right: right(@pad);
+  bottom: bottom(@pad);
+  left: left(@pad);
+
+  // Three:
+  @pad: 1px 2px 3px;
+  top: top(@pad);
+  right: right(@pad);
+  bottom: bottom(@pad);
+  left: left(@pad);
+
+  // Two:
+  @pad: 1px 2px;
+  top: top(@pad);
+  right: right(@pad);
+  bottom: bottom(@pad);
+  left: left(@pad);
+
+  // One:
+  @pad: 1px;
+  top: top(@pad);
+  right: right(@pad);
+  bottom: bottom(@pad);
+  left: left(@pad);
+}