diff --git a/symposion/proposals/views.py b/symposion/proposals/views.py
index b3a3edfe0dbdcd10be52f0bb94076e3ba6b1fdc0..570e988b61ca5d6271b1a781f59fdce9f3ff086a 100644
--- a/symposion/proposals/views.py
+++ b/symposion/proposals/views.py
@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@ from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.db.models import Q
 from django.http import Http404, HttpResponse, HttpResponseForbidden
 from django.shortcuts import render, redirect, get_object_or_404
-from django.utils.hashcompat import sha_constructor
+
+try:
+    from hashlib import sha1 as sha_constructor
+except ImportError:
+    from django.utils.hashcompat import sha_constructor
+
 from django.views import static
 
 from django.contrib import messages