We give sufficient conditions for the following problem: given a topological space $X$, a metric space $Y$, a subspace $Z$ of $Y$, and a continuous map $f$ from $X$ to $Y$, is it possible, by applying to $f$ an arbitrarily small perturbation, to ensure that $f(X)$ does not meet $Z$? We also give a relative variant: if $f(X')$ does not meet $Z$ for a certain subset $X'\subset X$, then we may keep $f$ unchanged on $X'$. We also develop a variant for continuous sections of fibrations and discuss some applications to matrix perturbation theory.