diff --git a/src/libutil/hash.cc b/src/libutil/hash.cc
index 8a83ed67f..2d97c5e6b 100644
--- a/src/libutil/hash.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/hash.cc
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ Hash::Hash(HashType type)
     if (type == htMD5) hashSize = md5HashSize;
     else if (type == htSHA1) hashSize = sha1HashSize;
     else if (type == htSHA256) hashSize = sha256HashSize;
+    else if (type == htSHA512) hashSize = sha512HashSize;
     else throw Error("unknown hash type");
     assert(hashSize <= maxHashSize);
     memset(hash, 0, maxHashSize);
@@ -190,6 +191,7 @@ union Ctx
     MD5_CTX md5;
     SHA_CTX sha1;
     SHA256_CTX sha256;
+    SHA512_CTX sha512;
 };
 
 
@@ -198,6 +200,7 @@ static void start(HashType ht, Ctx & ctx)
     if (ht == htMD5) MD5_Init(&ctx.md5);
     else if (ht == htSHA1) SHA1_Init(&ctx.sha1);
     else if (ht == htSHA256) SHA256_Init(&ctx.sha256);
+    else if (ht == htSHA512) SHA512_Init(&ctx.sha512);
 }
 
 
@@ -207,6 +210,7 @@ static void update(HashType ht, Ctx & ctx,
     if (ht == htMD5) MD5_Update(&ctx.md5, bytes, len);
     else if (ht == htSHA1) SHA1_Update(&ctx.sha1, bytes, len);
     else if (ht == htSHA256) SHA256_Update(&ctx.sha256, bytes, len);
+    else if (ht == htSHA512) SHA512_Update(&ctx.sha512, bytes, len);
 }
 
 
@@ -215,6 +219,7 @@ static void finish(HashType ht, Ctx & ctx, unsigned char * hash)
     if (ht == htMD5) MD5_Final(hash, &ctx.md5);
     else if (ht == htSHA1) SHA1_Final(hash, &ctx.sha1);
     else if (ht == htSHA256) SHA256_Final(hash, &ctx.sha256);
+    else if (ht == htSHA512) SHA512_Final(hash, &ctx.sha512);
 }
 
 
@@ -312,6 +317,7 @@ HashType parseHashType(const string & s)
     if (s == "md5") return htMD5;
     else if (s == "sha1") return htSHA1;
     else if (s == "sha256") return htSHA256;
+    else if (s == "sha512") return htSHA512;
     else return htUnknown;
 }
 
@@ -321,6 +327,7 @@ string printHashType(HashType ht)
     if (ht == htMD5) return "md5";
     else if (ht == htSHA1) return "sha1";
     else if (ht == htSHA256) return "sha256";
+    else if (ht == htSHA512) return "sha512";
     else throw Error("cannot print unknown hash type");
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/hash.hh b/src/libutil/hash.hh
index 2c6f176ec..841b4cb29 100644
--- a/src/libutil/hash.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/hash.hh
@@ -7,19 +7,20 @@
 namespace nix {
 
 
-typedef enum { htUnknown, htMD5, htSHA1, htSHA256 } HashType;
+typedef enum { htUnknown, htMD5, htSHA1, htSHA256, htSHA512 } HashType;
 
 
 const int md5HashSize = 16;
 const int sha1HashSize = 20;
 const int sha256HashSize = 32;
+const int sha512HashSize = 64;
 
 extern const string base32Chars;
 
 
 struct Hash
 {
-    static const unsigned int maxHashSize = 32;
+    static const unsigned int maxHashSize = 64;
     unsigned int hashSize;
     unsigned char hash[maxHashSize];
 
diff --git a/tests/fixed.sh b/tests/fixed.sh
index ed0d06dd2..cac3f0be9 100644
--- a/tests/fixed.sh
+++ b/tests/fixed.sh
@@ -40,13 +40,10 @@ echo "Hello World!" > $TEST_ROOT/fixed/foo
 ln -s foo $TEST_ROOT/fixed/bar
 
 out2=$(nix-store --add $TEST_ROOT/fixed)
-echo $out2
-test "$out" = "$out2" || exit 1
+[ "$out" = "$out2" ]
 
 out3=$(nix-store --add-fixed --recursive sha256 $TEST_ROOT/fixed)
-echo $out3
-test "$out" = "$out3" || exit 1
+[ "$out" = "$out3" ]
 
 out4=$(nix-store --print-fixed-path --recursive sha256 "1ixr6yd3297ciyp9im522dfxpqbkhcw0pylkb2aab915278fqaik" fixed)
-echo $out4
-test "$out" = "$out4" || exit 1
+[ "$out" = "$out4" ]
diff --git a/tests/hash.sh b/tests/hash.sh
index d659bbe34..a95c68683 100644
--- a/tests/hash.sh
+++ b/tests/hash.sh
@@ -17,12 +17,18 @@ try md5 "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" "c3fcd3d76192e4007dfb496cca67e13b"
 try md5 "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789" "d174ab98d277d9f5a5611c2c9f419d9f"
 try md5 "12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890" "57edf4a22be3c955ac49da2e2107b67a"
 
+try sha1 "" "da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709"
 try sha1 "abc" "a9993e364706816aba3e25717850c26c9cd0d89d"
 try sha1 "abcdbcdecdefdefgefghfghighijhijkijkljklmklmnlmnomnopnopq" "84983e441c3bd26ebaae4aa1f95129e5e54670f1"
 
+try sha256 "" "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855"
 try sha256 "abc" "ba7816bf8f01cfea414140de5dae2223b00361a396177a9cb410ff61f20015ad"
 try sha256 "abcdbcdecdefdefgefghfghighijhijkijkljklmklmnlmnomnopnopq" "248d6a61d20638b8e5c026930c3e6039a33ce45964ff2167f6ecedd419db06c1"
 
+try sha512 "" "cf83e1357eefb8bdf1542850d66d8007d620e4050b5715dc83f4a921d36ce9ce47d0d13c5d85f2b0ff8318d2877eec2f63b931bd47417a81a538327af927da3e"
+try sha512 "abc" "ddaf35a193617abacc417349ae20413112e6fa4e89a97ea20a9eeee64b55d39a2192992a274fc1a836ba3c23a3feebbd454d4423643ce80e2a9ac94fa54ca49f"
+try sha512 "abcdbcdecdefdefgefghfghighijhijkijkljklmklmnlmnomnopnopq" "204a8fc6dda82f0a0ced7beb8e08a41657c16ef468b228a8279be331a703c33596fd15c13b1b07f9aa1d3bea57789ca031ad85c7a71dd70354ec631238ca3445"
+
 EXTRA=--base32
 try sha256 "abc" "1b8m03r63zqhnjf7l5wnldhh7c134ap5vpj0850ymkq1iyzicy5s"
 EXTRA=
@@ -56,7 +62,12 @@ ln -s x $TEST_ROOT/hash-path/hello
 try2 md5 "f78b733a68f5edbdf9413899339eaa4a"
 
 # Conversion.
-test $(nix-hash --type sha256 --to-base32 "ba7816bf8f01cfea414140de5dae2223b00361a396177a9cb410ff61f20015ad") = "1b8m03r63zqhnjf7l5wnldhh7c134ap5vpj0850ymkq1iyzicy5s"
-test $(nix-hash --type sha256 --to-base16 "1b8m03r63zqhnjf7l5wnldhh7c134ap5vpj0850ymkq1iyzicy5s") = "ba7816bf8f01cfea414140de5dae2223b00361a396177a9cb410ff61f20015ad"
-test $(nix-hash --type sha1 --to-base32 "800d59cfcd3c05e900cb4e214be48f6b886a08df") = "vw46m23bizj4n8afrc0fj19wrp7mj3c0"
-test $(nix-hash --type sha1 --to-base16 "vw46m23bizj4n8afrc0fj19wrp7mj3c0") = "800d59cfcd3c05e900cb4e214be48f6b886a08df"
+try3() {
+    h32=$(nix-hash --type "$1" --to-base32 "$2")
+    [ "$h32" = "$3" ]
+    h16=$(nix-hash --type "$1" --to-base16 "$h32")
+    [ "$h16" = "$2" ]
+}
+try3 sha1 "800d59cfcd3c05e900cb4e214be48f6b886a08df" "vw46m23bizj4n8afrc0fj19wrp7mj3c0"
+try3 sha256 "ba7816bf8f01cfea414140de5dae2223b00361a396177a9cb410ff61f20015ad" "1b8m03r63zqhnjf7l5wnldhh7c134ap5vpj0850ymkq1iyzicy5s"
+try3 sha512 "204a8fc6dda82f0a0ced7beb8e08a41657c16ef468b228a8279be331a703c33596fd15c13b1b07f9aa1d3bea57789ca031ad85c7a71dd70354ec631238ca3445" "12k9jiq29iyqm03swfsgiw5mlqs173qazm3n7daz43infy12pyrcdf30fkk3qwv4yl2ick8yipc2mqnlh48xsvvxl60lbx8vp38yji0"
diff --git a/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.exp b/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.exp
index 7bbe452bc..d720a082d 100644
--- a/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.exp
+++ b/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.exp
@@ -1 +1 @@
-[ "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" "6c69ee7f211c640419d5366cc076ae46" "bb3438fbabd460ea6dbd27d153e2233b" "da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709" "cd54e8568c1b37cf1e5badb0779bcbf382212189" "6d12e10b1d331dad210e47fd25d4f260802b7e77" "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855" "900a4469df00ccbfd0c145c6d1e4b7953dd0afafadd7534e3a4019e8d38fc663" "ad0387b3bd8652f730ca46d25f9c170af0fd589f42e7f23f5a9e6412d97d7e56" ]
+[ "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e" "6c69ee7f211c640419d5366cc076ae46" "bb3438fbabd460ea6dbd27d153e2233b" "da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709" "cd54e8568c1b37cf1e5badb0779bcbf382212189" "6d12e10b1d331dad210e47fd25d4f260802b7e77" "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855" "900a4469df00ccbfd0c145c6d1e4b7953dd0afafadd7534e3a4019e8d38fc663" "ad0387b3bd8652f730ca46d25f9c170af0fd589f42e7f23f5a9e6412d97d7e56" "cf83e1357eefb8bdf1542850d66d8007d620e4050b5715dc83f4a921d36ce9ce47d0d13c5d85f2b0ff8318d2877eec2f63b931bd47417a81a538327af927da3e" "9d0886f8c6b389398a16257bc79780fab9831c7fc11c8ab07fa732cb7b348feade382f92617c9c5305fefba0af02ab5fd39a587d330997ff5bd0db19f7666653" "21644b72aa259e5a588cd3afbafb1d4310f4889680f6c83b9d531596a5a284f34dbebff409d23bcc86aee6bad10c891606f075c6f4755cb536da27db5693f3a7" ]
diff --git a/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.nix b/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.nix
index 2fff17f84..b0f62b245 100644
--- a/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.nix
+++ b/tests/lang/eval-okay-hash.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,4 @@
 let
-  md5 = builtins.hashString "md5";
-  sha1 = builtins.hashString "sha1";
-  sha256 = builtins.hashString "sha256";
   strings = [ "" "text 1" "text 2" ];
 in
-  (builtins.map md5 strings) ++ (builtins.map sha1 strings) ++ (builtins.map sha256 strings)
+  builtins.concatLists (map (hash: map (builtins.hashString hash) strings) ["md5" "sha1" "sha256" "sha512"])