diff --git a/ceno_zkvm/src/instructions.rs b/ceno_zkvm/src/instructions.rs
index bb3109d82..a6533ad22 100644
--- a/ceno_zkvm/src/instructions.rs
+++ b/ceno_zkvm/src/instructions.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use rayon::{
     iter::{IndexedParallelIterator, ParallelIterator},
     slice::ParallelSlice,
 };
+use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use crate::{
     circuit_builder::CircuitBuilder,
@@ -18,6 +19,10 @@ pub mod riscv;
 pub enum InstancePaddingStrategy {
     Zero,
     RepeatLast,
+    // Custom strategy consists of a closure
+    // `pad(i, j) = padding value for cell at row i, column j`
+    // pad should be able to cross thread boundaries
+    Custom(Arc<dyn Fn(u64, u64) -> u64 + Send + Sync>),
 }
 
 pub trait Instruction<E: ExtensionField> {
diff --git a/ceno_zkvm/src/tables/ram/ram_impl.rs b/ceno_zkvm/src/tables/ram/ram_impl.rs
index b824c2646..5baf948f3 100644
--- a/ceno_zkvm/src/tables/ram/ram_impl.rs
+++ b/ceno_zkvm/src/tables/ram/ram_impl.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-use std::marker::PhantomData;
+use std::{marker::PhantomData, sync::Arc};
 
 use ceno_emul::{Addr, Cycle};
 use ff_ext::ExtensionField;
@@ -388,8 +388,23 @@ impl<DVRAM: DynVolatileRamTable + Send + Sync + Clone> DynVolatileRamTableConfig
     ) -> Result<RowMajorMatrix<F>, ZKVMError> {
         assert!(final_mem.len() <= DVRAM::max_len(&self.params));
         assert!(DVRAM::max_len(&self.params).is_power_of_two());
-        let mut final_table =
-            RowMajorMatrix::<F>::new(final_mem.len(), num_witness, InstancePaddingStrategy::Zero);
+
+        let params = self.params.clone();
+        // TODO: make this more robust
+        let addr_column = 0;
+        let padding_fn = move |row: u64, col: u64| {
+            if col == addr_column {
+                DVRAM::addr(&params, row as usize) as u64
+            } else {
+                0u64
+            }
+        };
+
+        let mut final_table = RowMajorMatrix::<F>::new(
+            final_mem.len(),
+            num_witness,
+            InstancePaddingStrategy::Custom(Arc::new(padding_fn)),
+        );
 
         final_table
             .par_iter_mut()
@@ -416,3 +431,57 @@ impl<DVRAM: DynVolatileRamTable + Send + Sync + Clone> DynVolatileRamTableConfig
         Ok(final_table)
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::iter::successors;
+
+    use crate::{
+        circuit_builder::{CircuitBuilder, ConstraintSystem},
+        structs::ProgramParams,
+        tables::{DynVolatileRamTable, HintsCircuit, HintsTable, MemFinalRecord, TableCircuit},
+        witness::LkMultiplicity,
+    };
+
+    use ceno_emul::WORD_SIZE;
+    use goldilocks::{Goldilocks as F, GoldilocksExt2 as E};
+    use itertools::Itertools;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_well_formed_address_padding() {
+        let mut cs = ConstraintSystem::<E>::new(|| "riscv");
+        let mut cb = CircuitBuilder::new(&mut cs);
+        let config = HintsCircuit::construct_circuit(&mut cb).unwrap();
+
+        let def_params = ProgramParams::default();
+        let lkm = LkMultiplicity::default().into_finalize_result();
+
+        let input = (0..23)
+            .map(|i| MemFinalRecord {
+                addr: HintsTable::addr(&def_params, i),
+                cycle: 0,
+                value: 0,
+            })
+            .collect_vec();
+        let wit =
+            HintsCircuit::<E>::assign_instances(&config, cb.cs.num_witin as usize, &lkm, &input)
+                .unwrap();
+
+        let addr_column = cb
+            .cs
+            .witin_namespace_map
+            .iter()
+            .position(|name| name == "riscv/RAM_Memory_HintsTable/addr")
+            .unwrap();
+
+        let addr_padded_view = wit.column_padded(addr_column);
+        // Expect addresses to proceed consecutively inside the padding as well
+        let expected = successors(Some(addr_padded_view[0]), |idx| {
+            Some(*idx + F::from(WORD_SIZE as u64))
+        })
+        .take(addr_padded_view.len())
+        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+        assert_eq!(addr_padded_view, expected)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/ceno_zkvm/src/witness.rs b/ceno_zkvm/src/witness.rs
index 79cb6a9ba..134a66689 100644
--- a/ceno_zkvm/src/witness.rs
+++ b/ceno_zkvm/src/witness.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ use std::{
     array,
     cell::RefCell,
     collections::HashMap,
-    iter,
     mem::{self},
     ops::Index,
     slice::{Chunks, ChunksMut},
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ pub struct RowMajorMatrix<T: Sized + Sync + Clone + Send + Copy> {
     padding_strategy: InstancePaddingStrategy,
 }
 
-impl<T: Sized + Sync + Clone + Send + Copy + Default> RowMajorMatrix<T> {
+impl<T: Sized + Sync + Clone + Send + Copy + Default + From<u64>> RowMajorMatrix<T> {
     pub fn new(num_rows: usize, num_col: usize, padding_strategy: InstancePaddingStrategy) -> Self {
         RowMajorMatrix {
             values: (0..num_rows * num_col)
@@ -66,6 +65,10 @@ impl<T: Sized + Sync + Clone + Send + Copy + Default> RowMajorMatrix<T> {
         self.values.len() / self.num_col
     }
 
+    pub fn row(&self, row: usize) -> &[T] {
+        &self.values[row * self.num_col..(row + 1) * self.num_col]
+    }
+
     pub fn iter_rows(&self) -> Chunks<T> {
         self.values.chunks(self.num_col)
     }
@@ -83,31 +86,36 @@ impl<T: Sized + Sync + Clone + Send + Copy + Default> RowMajorMatrix<T> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<F: Field> RowMajorMatrix<F> {
+impl<F: Field + From<u64>> RowMajorMatrix<F> {
+    // Returns column number `column`, padded appropriately according to the stored strategy
+    pub fn column_padded(&self, column: usize) -> Vec<F> {
+        let num_instances = self.num_instances();
+        let num_padding_instances = self.num_padding_instances();
+        let last_element = self.row(num_instances - 1)[column];
+
+        let padding_iter = (num_instances..num_instances + num_padding_instances).map(|i| {
+            match &self.padding_strategy {
+                InstancePaddingStrategy::Custom(fun) => F::from(fun(i as u64, column as u64)),
+                InstancePaddingStrategy::RepeatLast => last_element,
+                _ => F::ZERO,
+            }
+        });
+
+        self.values
+            .iter()
+            .skip(column)
+            .step_by(self.num_col)
+            .copied()
+            .chain(padding_iter)
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+    }
+
     pub fn into_mles<E: ff_ext::ExtensionField<BaseField = F>>(
         self,
     ) -> Vec<DenseMultilinearExtension<E>> {
-        let padding_row = match self.padding_strategy {
-            // Repeat last row if it exists
-            InstancePaddingStrategy::RepeatLast if !self.values.is_empty() => {
-                self.values[self.values.len() - self.num_col..].to_vec()
-            }
-            // Otherwise use zeroes
-            _ => vec![F::ZERO; self.num_col],
-        };
-        let num_padding = self.num_padding_instances();
         (0..self.num_col)
             .into_par_iter()
-            .map(|i| {
-                self.values
-                    .iter()
-                    .skip(i)
-                    .step_by(self.num_col)
-                    .chain(&mut iter::repeat(&padding_row[i]).take(num_padding))
-                    .copied()
-                    .collect::<Vec<_>>()
-                    .into_mle()
-            })
+            .map(|i| self.column_padded(i).into_mle())
             .collect()
     }
 }