diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/ManifestParser.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/ManifestParser.cs
index 59753df66a..28493fe20f 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/ManifestParser.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/ManifestParser.cs
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Manifest
             var gridEditors = new List<GridEditor>();
             var contentApps = new List<ManifestContentAppDefinition>();
             var dashboards = new List<ManifestDashboardDefinition>();
+            var sections = new Dictionary<string, string>();
 
             foreach (var manifest in manifests)
             {
@@ -111,6 +112,9 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Manifest
                 if (manifest.GridEditors != null) gridEditors.AddRange(manifest.GridEditors);
                 if (manifest.ContentApps != null) contentApps.AddRange(manifest.ContentApps);
                 if (manifest.Dashboards != null) dashboards.AddRange(manifest.Dashboards);
+                if (manifest.Sections != null)
+                    foreach (var (key, value) in manifest.Sections)
+                        sections[key] = value;
             }
 
             return new PackageManifest
@@ -121,7 +125,8 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Manifest
                 ParameterEditors = parameterEditors.ToArray(),
                 GridEditors = gridEditors.ToArray(),
                 ContentApps = contentApps.ToArray(),
-                Dashboards = dashboards.ToArray()
+                Dashboards = dashboards.ToArray(),
+                Sections = sections
             };
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/PackageManifest.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/PackageManifest.cs
index cd806ac847..a0546f3629 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/PackageManifest.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Manifest/PackageManifest.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Umbraco.Core.Models.ContentEditing;
 using Umbraco.Core.PropertyEditors;
@@ -30,5 +31,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Manifest
 
         [JsonProperty("dashboards")]
         public ManifestDashboardDefinition[] Dashboards { get; set; } = Array.Empty<ManifestDashboardDefinition>();
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Declares the back office sections that this package installs
+        /// </summary>
+        [JsonProperty("sections")]
+        public IReadOnlyDictionary<string, string> Sections { get; set; } = new Dictionary<string, string>();
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Manifest/ManifestParserTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Manifest/ManifestParserTests.cs
index ce3d1d705c..9970d5f6b0 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Manifest/ManifestParserTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Manifest/ManifestParserTests.cs
@@ -429,5 +429,23 @@ javascript: ['~/test.js',/*** some note about stuff asd09823-4**09234*/ '~/test2
             Assert.AreEqual(1, db1.Sections.Length);
             Assert.AreEqual("forms", db1.Sections[0]);
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void CanParseManifest_Sections()
+        {
+            const string json = @"{'sections': {
+    'content': 'Content',
+    'hello': 'World'
+    }
+}";
+
+            var manifest = _parser.ParseManifest(json);
+            Assert.AreEqual(2, manifest.Sections.Count);
+            Assert.AreEqual("content", manifest.Sections.Keys.ElementAt(0));
+            Assert.AreEqual("hello", manifest.Sections.Keys.ElementAt(1));
+            Assert.AreEqual("Content", manifest.Sections["content"]);
+            Assert.AreEqual("World", manifest.Sections["hello"]);
+
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Services/SectionService.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Services/SectionService.cs
index e6af27534c..b17b9f965a 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Services/SectionService.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Services/SectionService.cs
@@ -1,22 +1,9 @@
 using System;
-using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
-using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
-using System.Xml.Linq;
-using Umbraco.Core;
-using Umbraco.Core.Cache;
-using Umbraco.Core.Events;
-using Umbraco.Core.IO;
-using Umbraco.Core.Models;
-using Umbraco.Core.Composing;
-using Umbraco.Core.Models.ContentEditing;
-using Umbraco.Core.Scoping;
 using Umbraco.Core.Services;
-using Umbraco.Web.Models.ContentEditing;
 using Umbraco.Web.Models.Trees;
 using Umbraco.Web.Trees;
-using File = System.IO.File;
 
 namespace Umbraco.Web.Services
 {
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollection.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollection.cs
index 54762e73d8..fdeb812363 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollection.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollection.cs
@@ -11,5 +11,6 @@ namespace Umbraco.Web.Trees
         public BackOfficeSectionCollection(IEnumerable<IBackOfficeSection> items)
             : base(items)
         { }
+        
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollectionBuilder.cs b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollectionBuilder.cs
index 62d61a4090..ec5833f79c 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollectionBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Web/Trees/BackOfficeSectionCollectionBuilder.cs
@@ -1,10 +1,43 @@
-using Umbraco.Core.Composing;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using Umbraco.Core.Composing;
+using Umbraco.Core.Manifest;
+using Umbraco.Core.Models.ContentEditing;
 using Umbraco.Web.Models.Trees;
 
 namespace Umbraco.Web.Trees
 {
+    //fixme: how can a developer re-sort the items in this collection ?
     public class BackOfficeSectionCollectionBuilder : OrderedCollectionBuilderBase<BackOfficeSectionCollectionBuilder, BackOfficeSectionCollection, IBackOfficeSection>
     {
         protected override BackOfficeSectionCollectionBuilder This => this;
+
+        // need to inject dependencies in the collection, so override creation
+        public override BackOfficeSectionCollection CreateCollection(IFactory factory)
+        {
+            return new BackOfficeSectionCollection(CreateItems(factory));
+        }
+
+        protected override IEnumerable<IBackOfficeSection> CreateItems(IFactory factory)
+        {
+            // get the manifest parser just-in-time - injecting it in the ctor would mean that
+            // simply getting the builder in order to configure the collection, would require
+            // its dependencies too, and that can create cycles or other oddities
+            var manifestParser = factory.GetInstance<ManifestParser>();
+
+            return base.CreateItems(factory).Concat(manifestParser.Manifest.Sections.Select(x => new ManifestBackOfficeSection(x.Key, x.Value)));
+        }
+
+        private class ManifestBackOfficeSection : IBackOfficeSection
+        {
+            public ManifestBackOfficeSection(string @alias, string name)
+            {
+                Alias = alias;
+                Name = name;
+            }
+
+            public string Alias { get; }
+            public string Name { get; }
+        }
     }
 }