diff --git a/tuf/repository_lib.py b/tuf/repository_lib.py
index 3ca381ec..15e2f750 100755
--- a/tuf/repository_lib.py
+++ b/tuf/repository_lib.py
@@ -974,7 +974,7 @@ def get_metadata_fileinfo(filename, custom=None):
   # file information, such as the file's author, version/revision
   # numbers, etc.
   filesize, filehashes = securesystemslib.util.get_file_details(filename,
-      securesystemslib.settings.HASH_ALGORITHMS)
+      tuf.settings.FILE_HASH_ALGORITHMS)
 
   return tuf.formats.make_fileinfo(filesize, filehashes, custom=custom)
 
diff --git a/tuf/settings.py b/tuf/settings.py
index 0fb80464..eb8ae34a 100755
--- a/tuf/settings.py
+++ b/tuf/settings.py
@@ -102,6 +102,9 @@
 # the securesystemslib external library.
 DEFAULT_HASH_ALGORITHM = 'sha256'
 
+# The hashing algorithms used to compute file hashes
+FILE_HASH_ALGORITHMS = ['sha256', 'sha512']
+
 # The client's update procedure (contained within a while-loop) can potentially
 # hog the CPU.  The following setting can be used to force the update sequence
 # to suspend execution for a specified amount of time.  See