diff --git a/ova-compose/ova-compose.py b/ova-compose/ova-compose.py
index 02486c6..da0b69b 100755
--- a/ova-compose/ova-compose.py
+++ b/ova-compose/ova-compose.py
@@ -1076,13 +1076,14 @@ def write_xml(self, ovf_file=None):
 
 
     @staticmethod
-    def _get_sha512(filename):
+    def _get_hash(filename, hash_type):
+        hash = hashlib.new(hash_type)
         with open(filename, "rb") as f:
-            hash = hashlib.sha512(f.read()).hexdigest();
-        return hash
+            hash.update(f.read())
+        return hash.hexdigest()
 
 
-    def write_manifest(self, ovf_file=None, mf_file=None):
+    def write_manifest(self, ovf_file=None, mf_file=None, hash_type="sha512"):
         if ovf_file == None:
             ovf_file = f"{self.name}.ovf"
         if mf_file == None:
@@ -1093,9 +1094,9 @@ def write_manifest(self, ovf_file=None, mf_file=None):
             filenames.append(file.path)
         with open(mf_file, "wt") as f:
             for fname in filenames:
-                hash = OVF._get_sha512(fname)
+                hash = OVF._get_hash(fname, hash_type)
                 fname = os.path.basename(fname)
-                f.write(f"SHA512({fname})= {hash}\n")
+                f.write(f"{hash_type.upper()}({fname})= {hash}\n")
 
 
 def usage():
@@ -1106,6 +1107,7 @@ def usage():
     print("  -o, --output-file <file>    output file or directory name")
     print("  -f, --format ova|ovf|dir    output format")
     print("  -m, --manifest              create manifest file along with ovf (default true for output formats ova and dir)")
+    print("  --checksum-type sha256|sha512  set the checksum type for the manifest. Must be sha256 or sha512.")
     print("  -q                          quiet mode")
     print("  -h                          print help")
     print("")
@@ -1145,9 +1147,10 @@ def main():
     do_quiet = False
     do_manifest = False
     params = {}
+    checksum_type = "sha512"
 
     try:
-        opts, args = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'f:hi:mo:q', longopts=['format=', 'input-file=', 'manifest', 'output-file=', 'param='])
+        opts, args = getopt.getopt(sys.argv[1:], 'f:hi:mo:q', longopts=['format=', 'input-file=', 'manifest', 'output-file=', 'param=', 'checksum-type='])
     except:
         print ("invalid option")
         sys.exit(2)
@@ -1161,6 +1164,8 @@ def main():
             output_format = a
         elif o in ['-m', '--manifest']:
             do_manifest = True
+        elif o in ['--checksum-type']:
+            checksum_type = a
         elif o in ['--param']:
             k,v = a.split('=', maxsplit=1)
             params[k] = yaml.safe_load(v)
@@ -1175,6 +1180,8 @@ def main():
     assert config_file != None, "no input file specified"
     assert output_file != None, "no output file/directory specified"
 
+    assert checksum_type in ["sha512", "sha256"], f"checksum-type '{checksum_type}' is invalid"
+
     if config_file != None:
         f = open(config_file, 'r')
 
@@ -1212,7 +1219,7 @@ def main():
         ovf_file = output_file
         ovf.write_xml(ovf_file=ovf_file)
         if do_manifest:
-            ovf.write_manifest(ovf_file=ovf_file, mf_file=mf_file)
+            ovf.write_manifest(ovf_file=ovf_file, mf_file=mf_file, hash_type=checksum_type)
     elif output_format == "ova" or output_format == "dir":
         pwd = os.getcwd()
         tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix=f"{basename}-", dir=pwd)
@@ -1227,7 +1234,7 @@ def main():
                 os.symlink(os.path.join(pwd, file.path), dst)
                 all_files.append(dst)
 
-            ovf.write_manifest(ovf_file=ovf_file, mf_file=mf_file)
+            ovf.write_manifest(ovf_file=ovf_file, mf_file=mf_file, hash_type=checksum_type)
 
             if output_format == "ova":
                 ret = subprocess.check_call(["tar", "--format=ustar", "-h",
diff --git a/pytest/test_manifest.py b/pytest/test_manifest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b72443
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pytest/test_manifest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2023 VMware, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the “License”); you may not
+# use this file except in compliance with the License.  You may obtain a copy of
+# the License at:
+#
+#        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed
+# under the License is distributed on an “AS IS” BASIS, without warranties or
+# conditions of any kind, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.  See the License for the
+# specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
+
+import glob
+import hashlib
+import os
+import pytest
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import yaml
+import xmltodict
+
+
+THIS_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+OVA_COMPOSE = os.path.join(THIS_DIR, "..", "ova-compose", "ova-compose.py")
+
+VMDK_CONVERT=os.path.join(THIS_DIR, "..", "build", "vmdk", "vmdk-convert")
+
+CONFIG_DIR=os.path.join(THIS_DIR, "configs")
+
+WORK_DIR=os.path.join(os.getcwd(), "pytest-tmp")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope='module', autouse=True)
+def setup_test():
+    os.makedirs(WORK_DIR, exist_ok=True)
+
+    process = subprocess.run(["dd", "if=/dev/zero", "of=dummy.img", "bs=1024", "count=1024"], cwd=WORK_DIR)
+    assert process.returncode == 0
+
+    process = subprocess.run([VMDK_CONVERT, "dummy.img", "dummy.vmdk"], cwd=WORK_DIR)
+    assert process.returncode == 0
+
+    yield
+    shutil.rmtree(WORK_DIR)
+
+
+def check_mf(mf_path, hash_type, work_dir=WORK_DIR):
+    with open(mf_path, "rt") as f:
+        for line in f:
+            left, hash_mf = line.split("=")
+            hash_mf = hash_mf.strip()
+
+            assert left.startswith(hash_type.upper())
+
+            filename = left[len(hash_type):].strip("()")
+            hash = hashlib.new(hash_type)
+            with open(os.path.join(work_dir, filename), "rb") as f:
+                hash.update(f.read())
+
+            assert hash.hexdigest() == hash_mf
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("hash_type", [None, "sha256", "sha512"])
+def test_ovf_manifest(hash_type):
+    in_yaml = os.path.join(CONFIG_DIR, "basic.yaml")
+    basename = os.path.basename(in_yaml.rsplit(".", 1)[0])
+    out_ovf = os.path.join(WORK_DIR, f"{basename}.ovf")
+    out_mf = os.path.join(WORK_DIR, f"{basename}.mf")
+
+    args = [OVA_COMPOSE, "-i", in_yaml, "-o", out_ovf, "-m"]
+    if hash_type is not None:
+        args += ["--checksum-type", hash_type]
+    else:
+        hash_type = "sha512"
+
+    process = subprocess.run(args, cwd=WORK_DIR)
+    assert process.returncode == 0
+
+    assert os.path.isfile(out_mf)
+
+    check_mf(out_mf, hash_type)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("hash_type", [None, "sha256", "sha512"])
+def test_ova_manifest(hash_type):
+    in_yaml = os.path.join(CONFIG_DIR, "basic.yaml")
+    basename = os.path.basename(in_yaml.rsplit(".", 1)[0])
+    out_ova = os.path.join(WORK_DIR, f"{basename}.ova")
+    out_mf = os.path.join(WORK_DIR, f"{basename}.mf")
+
+    args = [OVA_COMPOSE, "-i", in_yaml, "-o", out_ova]
+    if hash_type is not None:
+        args += ["--checksum-type", hash_type]
+    else:
+        hash_type = "sha512"
+
+    process = subprocess.run(args, cwd=WORK_DIR)
+    assert process.returncode == 0
+
+    subprocess.run(["tar", "xf", out_ova], cwd=WORK_DIR)
+
+    check_mf(out_mf, hash_type)
+
+
+def test_manifest_invalid_checksum_type():
+    in_yaml = os.path.join(CONFIG_DIR, "basic.yaml")
+    basename = os.path.basename(in_yaml.rsplit(".", 1)[0])
+    out_ovf = os.path.join(WORK_DIR, f"{basename}.ovf")
+    out_mf = os.path.join(WORK_DIR, f"{basename}.mf")
+
+    args = [OVA_COMPOSE, "-i", in_yaml, "-o", out_ovf, "-m", "--checksum-type", "foobar"]
+    process = subprocess.run(args, cwd=WORK_DIR)
+    assert process.returncode != 0
+