diff --git a/src/XrdSecgsi/XrdSecProtocolgsi.cc b/src/XrdSecgsi/XrdSecProtocolgsi.cc
index 52d80a660b2..bca7aece5d0 100644
--- a/src/XrdSecgsi/XrdSecProtocolgsi.cc
+++ b/src/XrdSecgsi/XrdSecProtocolgsi.cc
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ int    XrdSecProtocolgsi::GMAPOpt  = 1;
 bool   XrdSecProtocolgsi::GMAPuseDNname = 0;
 String XrdSecProtocolgsi::DefCrypto= "ssl";
 String XrdSecProtocolgsi::DefCipher= "aes-128-cbc:bf-cbc:des-ede3-cbc";
-String XrdSecProtocolgsi::DefMD    = "sha1:md5";
+String XrdSecProtocolgsi::DefMD    = "sha256:sha1:md5";
 String XrdSecProtocolgsi::DefError = "invalid credentials ";
 int    XrdSecProtocolgsi::PxyReqOpts = 0;
 int    XrdSecProtocolgsi::AuthzPxyWhat = -1;