diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index e139b6d..bd5bc7a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Test files
 sha1sum-from-bash.txt
-test.tar.sha1
-test.tar
+test.*
 test/
 
+
 # Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
 __pycache__/
 *.py[cod]
diff --git a/hashTar.py b/hashTar.py
index 2834817..4df9049 100644
--- a/hashTar.py
+++ b/hashTar.py
@@ -5,26 +5,62 @@
 """
 This script calculates hashes for every file inside a tar file and creates a checksum file
 Usage:
-python3 hashTar.py target-tar-file
+python3 hashTar.py target-tar-file optional-algorithm
 
+Options for optional-algorithm are (md5 is not available in -- rare -- FIPS compliant Python):
+md5
+sha1 (default)
+sha256
+sha3_512
+
+Check hashlib documentation for other hashes that could be implemented here.
 """
 
+ALGORITHMS = ["md5", "sha1", "sha256", "sha3_512"]
 
-def checksum(file_to_hash):
-    hashresult = hashlib.sha1()
+def checksum(file_to_hash, algorithm="sha1"):
+    if algorithm == "sha1":
+        hashresult = hashlib.sha1()
+    elif algorithm == "md5":
+        hashresult = hashlib.md5()
+    elif algorithm == "sha256":
+        hashresult = hashlib.sha256()
+    elif algorithm == "sha3_512": # contrary to sha512, sha3-512 is not vulnerable to length extension attack
+        hashresult = hashlib.sha3_512()
     for chunk in iter(lambda: file_to_hash.read(4096), b''):
         hashresult.update(chunk)
     return hashresult.hexdigest()
 
-def hashtar(input_tar_file):
+def hashtar(input_tar_file, algorithm="sha1"):
+    if algorithm not in ALGORITHMS:
+        print("Please choose a valid algorithm, options are:")
+        for algo in ALGORITHMS:
+            print(algo, end=" ")
+        print()
+        sys.exit()
+    # Check if hashlib has the algorithm (e.g FIPS Python without MD5)
+    assert hasattr(hashlib, algorithm), "Invalid algorithm."
     with tarfile.open(input_tar_file) as tar_input:
-        algo = "sha1" # Getting ready for algorithm chooser
-        outputname = input_tar_file + '.' + algo
+        outputname = input_tar_file + '.' + algorithm
         with open(outputname, 'w') as checksums_file:
             for member in tar_input.getmembers():
                 if member.isreg():  # skip if not file (folders are members, hashing them fails)
                     with tar_input.extractfile(member) as _file:
-                        checksums_file.write('{}  ./{}\n'.format(checksum(_file), member.name))
+                        checksums_file.write('{}  ./{}\n'.format(checksum(_file, algorithm), member.name))
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    hashtar(sys.argv[1])
+    if len(sys.argv) == 2:
+        hashtar(sys.argv[1])
+    elif len(sys.argv) == 3:
+        hashtar(sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2])
+    else:
+        print("I need a target file and an optional algorithm.")
+        print()
+        print("Usage:")
+        print("python3 hashTar.py target-tar-file optional-algorithm")
+        print()
+        print("Options for algorithm are:")
+        for algo in ALGORITHMS:
+            print(algo, end=" ")
+        print()
+