diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 1e324dc66..890e96e09 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -87,6 +87,10 @@ Post-v2.5.0
      watch with tcpdump
    - Introduce --no-self-confinement flag that allows daemons to work with
      sockets outside their run directory.
+   - ovs-pki: Changed message digest algorithm from SHA-1 to SHA-512 because
+     SHA-1 is no longer secure and some operating systems have started to
+     disable it in OpenSSL.
+
 
 v2.5.0 - 26 Feb 2016
 ---------------------
diff --git a/utilities/ovs-pki.in b/utilities/ovs-pki.in
index 9b2b5aa28..7a992a594 100755
--- a/utilities/ovs-pki.in
+++ b/utilities/ovs-pki.in
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ private_key    = $dir/private/cakey.pem# CA private key
 RANDFILE       = $dir/private/.rand    # random number file
 default_days   = 3650                  # how long to certify for
 default_crl_days= 30                   # how long before next CRL
-default_md     = sha1                  # message digest to use
+default_md     = sha512                # message digest to use
 policy         = policy                # default policy
 email_in_dn    = no                    # Don't add the email into cert DN
 name_opt       = ca_default            # Subject name display option