diff --git a/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Checksum.java b/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Checksum.java
index 28842818d..7d02ed90f 100644
--- a/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Checksum.java
+++ b/dependency-check-utils/src/main/java/org/owasp/dependencycheck/utils/Checksum.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.nio.MappedByteBuffer;
 import java.nio.channels.FileChannel;
 import java.security.MessageDigest;
@@ -49,20 +50,61 @@ public final class Checksum {
 
     /**
      * <p>
-     * Creates the cryptographic checksum of a given file using the specified algorithm.</p>
+     * Creates the cryptographic checksum of a given file using the specified
+     * algorithm.</p>
      *
      * @param algorithm the algorithm to use to calculate the checksum
      * @param file the file to calculate the checksum for
      * @return the checksum
      * @throws IOException when the file does not exist
-     * @throws NoSuchAlgorithmException when an algorithm is specified that does not exist
+     * @throws NoSuchAlgorithmException when an algorithm is specified that does
+     * not exist
      */
     public static byte[] getChecksum(String algorithm, File file) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, IOException {
-        final MessageDigest digest = MessageDigest.getInstance(algorithm);
+        MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance(algorithm);
         FileInputStream fis = null;
+        FileChannel ch = null;
         try {
             fis = new FileInputStream(file);
-            final FileChannel ch = fis.getChannel();
+            ch = fis.getChannel();
+            ByteBuffer buf = ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(8192);
+            int b = ch.read(buf);
+            while ((b != -1) && (b != 0)) {
+                buf.flip();
+                byte[] bytes = new byte[b];
+                buf.get(bytes);
+                md.update(bytes, 0, b);
+                buf.clear();
+                b = ch.read(buf);
+            }
+            return md.digest();
+        } finally {
+            if (ch != null) {
+                try {
+                    ch.close();
+                } catch (IOException ex) {
+                    LOGGER.trace("Error closing channel '{}'.", file.getName(), ex);
+                }
+            }
+            if (fis != null) {
+                try {
+                    fis.close();
+                } catch (IOException ex) {
+                    LOGGER.trace("Error closing file '{}'.", file.getName(), ex);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        /*  
+        // while the following is likely faster, it does not work as we need to
+        // be able to delete the file, see
+        // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24589488/why-does-this-utility-method-leaves-files-locked
+        //
+        final MessageDigest digest = MessageDigest.getInstance(algorithm);
+        FileInputStream fis = null;
+        FileChannel ch = null;
+        try {
+            fis = new FileInputStream(file);
+            ch = fis.getChannel();
             long remainingToRead = file.length();
             long start = 0;
             while (remainingToRead > 0) {
@@ -79,6 +121,13 @@ public final class Checksum {
                 start += amountToRead;
             }
         } finally {
+            if (ch != null) {
+                try {
+                    ch.close();
+                } catch (IOException ex) {
+                    LOGGER.trace("Error closing channel '{}'.", file.getName(), ex);
+                }
+            }
             if (fis != null) {
                 try {
                     fis.close();
@@ -88,6 +137,7 @@ public final class Checksum {
             }
         }
         return digest.digest();
+        */
     }
 
     /**