diff --git a/Monsoon/ChangeLog b/Monsoon/ChangeLog
index ce33e3d..59309be 100644
--- a/Monsoon/ChangeLog
+++ b/Monsoon/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+2009-06-23  Alan McGovern  <amcgovern@novell.com>
+
+	* Makefile.am:
+	* Monsoon.csproj:
+	* OpenSSLSha1.cs:
+	* TorrentController.cs: Monsoon will use openssh for sha1
+	hashing if it is available, otherwise fall back to the
+	standard hash function.
+
 2009-06-23  Alan McGovern  <amcgovern@novell.com>
 
 	* TorrentController.cs:
diff --git a/Monsoon/Makefile.am b/Monsoon/Makefile.am
index e7b9689..243ca79 100644
--- a/Monsoon/Makefile.am
+++ b/Monsoon/Makefile.am
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST = $(NLOG_DLL_SOURCE)
 
 if ENABLE_DEBUG
 ASSEMBLY_COMPILER_COMMAND = gmcs
-ASSEMBLY_COMPILER_FLAGS =  -noconfig -codepage:utf8 -warn:4 -optimize+ -debug -define:DEBUG
+ASSEMBLY_COMPILER_FLAGS =  -noconfig -codepage:utf8 -warn:4 -optimize+ -debug -define:DEBUG -unsafe
 ASSEMBLY = bin/Debug/Monsoon.exe
 ASSEMBLY_MDB = $(ASSEMBLY).mdb
 COMPILE_TARGET = exe
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ endif
 
 if ENABLE_RELEASE
 ASSEMBLY_COMPILER_COMMAND = gmcs
-ASSEMBLY_COMPILER_FLAGS =  -noconfig -codepage:utf8 -warn:4 -optimize+ -debug
+ASSEMBLY_COMPILER_FLAGS =  -noconfig -codepage:utf8 -warn:4 -optimize+ -debug -unsafe
 ASSEMBLY = bin/Release/Monsoon.exe
 ASSEMBLY_MDB = 
 COMPILE_TARGET = exe
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ FILES =  \
 	Model/State.cs \
 	Model/StateChangedEventArgs.cs \
 	Model/TorrentFileModel.cs \
+	OpenSSLSha1.cs \
 	PeerTreeView.cs \
 	PiecesTreeView.cs \
 	PreferencesDialog.cs \
diff --git a/Monsoon/Monsoon.csproj b/Monsoon/Monsoon.csproj
index 2bbdc12..c8e8aac 100644
--- a/Monsoon/Monsoon.csproj
+++ b/Monsoon/Monsoon.csproj
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
     <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
     <CheckForOverflowUnderflow>true</CheckForOverflowUnderflow>
     <AssemblyKeyFile>.</AssemblyKeyFile>
+    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition=" '$(Configuration)|$(Platform)' == 'Release|AnyCPU' ">
     <DebugType>none</DebugType>
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@
     <WarningLevel>4</WarningLevel>
     <AssemblyKeyFile>.</AssemblyKeyFile>
     <Commandlineparameters>-d</Commandlineparameters>
+    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Reference Include="System" />
@@ -146,6 +148,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Model\State.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Model\StateChangedEventArgs.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Extensions\DhtExtension.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="OpenSSLSha1.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Content Include="icons\rss.png">
diff --git a/Monsoon/OpenSSLSha1.cs b/Monsoon/OpenSSLSha1.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ad6ef5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Monsoon/OpenSSLSha1.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+
+using System;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+
+namespace Monsoon
+{
+	public class OpenSSLSha1 : System.Security.Cryptography.SHA1
+	{
+		IntPtr context;
+		public OpenSSLSha1 ()
+		{
+			// The native SHA1 structure is 96 bytes in length
+			context = Marshal.AllocHGlobal (96);
+			if (SHA1_Init (context) != 1)
+				throw new Exception ("Could not init context");
+		}
+		
+		public override void Initialize ()
+		{
+			if (SHA1_Init (context) != 1)
+				throw new Exception ("Could not init context");
+		}
+		
+		protected override unsafe void HashCore (byte[] array, int ibStart, int cbSize)
+		{
+			if (ibStart > array.Length)
+				throw new IndexOutOfRangeException ("ibStart");
+			if ((array.Length - ibStart) < cbSize)
+				throw new IndexOutOfRangeException ("cbSize");
+			
+			if (cbSize == 0)
+				return;
+			
+			fixed (byte *ptr = array)
+				if (SHA1_Update (context, ptr + ibStart, (ulong) cbSize) != 1)
+					throw new Exception ("Could not hash data");
+		}
+
+		protected override byte[] HashFinal ()
+		{
+			// Result must be at least of length 20
+			byte [] result = new byte [20];
+			if (SHA1_Final (result, context) != 1)
+				throw new Exception ("Could not hash final chunk");
+			return result;
+		}
+
+		// All return '1' for success, '0' for failure
+		[DllImport ("libssl.so.0.9.8")]
+		static extern int SHA1_Init (IntPtr context);
+		[DllImport ("libssl.so.0.9.8")]
+		static extern unsafe int SHA1_Update (IntPtr context, byte *data, ulong len);
+		[DllImport ("libssl.so.0.9.8")]
+		static extern int SHA1_Final (byte [] buffer, IntPtr context);
+	}
+}
diff --git a/Monsoon/TorrentController.cs b/Monsoon/TorrentController.cs
index 941c568..a89f14b 100644
--- a/Monsoon/TorrentController.cs
+++ b/Monsoon/TorrentController.cs
@@ -73,6 +73,21 @@ public List<FastResume> FastResume
 		private static NLog.Logger logger = MainClass.DebugEnabled ? NLog.LogManager.GetCurrentClassLogger () : new EmptyLogger ();
 		
 		TorrentSettings defaultTorrentSettings;
+		
+		static TorrentController ()
+		{
+			try {
+				using (OpenSSLSha1 native = new OpenSSLSha1 ()) {
+					native.ComputeHash (new byte[1024]);
+					HashAlgoFactory.Register (typeof (SHA1), typeof (SHA1CryptoServiceProvider));
+					logger.Debug ("Using OpenSSL for SHA1 hashing");
+				}
+			} catch {
+				// If an exception occurs it means that the native SHA1 function is unusable
+				// so don't register it then
+			}
+		}
+		
 		public TorrentController()
 		{
 			this.defaultTorrentSettings = SettingsManager.DefaultTorrentSettings;