diff --git a/cluster/plan.go b/cluster/plan.go
index 02ae23c2..8dcd1883 100644
--- a/cluster/plan.go
+++ b/cluster/plan.go
@@ -3,9 +3,13 @@ package cluster
 import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/md5"
+	"crypto/sha256"
 	b64 "encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"hash"
+	"log"
 	"net"
 	"path"
 	"strconv"
@@ -216,7 +220,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) BuildKubeAPIProcess(host *hosts.Host, serviceOptions v3.Kubern
 		CommandArgs["authentication-token-webhook-cache-ttl"] = c.Authentication.Webhook.CacheTimeout
 	}
 	if len(c.CloudProvider.Name) > 0 {
-		Env = append(Env, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", CloudConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(c.CloudConfigFile)))
+		Env = append(Env, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", CloudConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(c.CloudConfigFile, c.Version)))
 	}
 	if c.EncryptionConfig.EncryptionProviderFile != "" {
 		CommandArgs[EncryptionProviderConfigArgument] = EncryptionProviderFilePath
@@ -293,7 +297,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) BuildKubeAPIProcess(host *hosts.Host, serviceOptions v3.Kubern
 		if err != nil {
 			logrus.Warnf("Error while marshalling admission configuration: %v", err)
 		}
-		Env = append(Env, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", AdmissionConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(string(bytes))))
+		Env = append(Env, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", AdmissionConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(string(bytes), c.Version)))
 	}
 	if c.Services.KubeAPI.AuditLog != nil && c.Services.KubeAPI.AuditLog.Enabled {
 		Binds = append(Binds, fmt.Sprintf("%s:/var/log/kube-audit", path.Join(host.PrefixPath, "/var/log/kube-audit")))
@@ -301,7 +305,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) BuildKubeAPIProcess(host *hosts.Host, serviceOptions v3.Kubern
 		if err != nil {
 			logrus.Warnf("Error while marshalling auditlog policy: %v", err)
 		}
-		Env = append(Env, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", AuditLogConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(string(bytes))))
+		Env = append(Env, fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", AuditLogConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(string(bytes), c.Version)))
 	}
 
 	matchedRange, err := util.SemVerMatchRange(c.Version, util.SemVerK8sVersion122OrHigher)
@@ -379,7 +383,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) BuildKubeControllerProcess(host *hosts.Host, serviceOptions v3
 	if len(c.CloudProvider.Name) > 0 {
 		c.Services.KubeController.ExtraEnv = append(
 			c.Services.KubeController.ExtraEnv,
-			fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", CloudConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(c.CloudConfigFile)))
+			fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", CloudConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(c.CloudConfigFile, c.Version)))
 	}
 
 	if serviceOptions.KubeController != nil {
@@ -639,7 +643,7 @@ func (c *Cluster) BuildKubeletProcess(host *hosts.Host, serviceOptions v3.Kubern
 
 	if len(c.CloudProvider.Name) > 0 {
 		Env = append(Env,
-			fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", CloudConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(c.CloudConfigFile)))
+			fmt.Sprintf("%s=%s", CloudConfigSumEnv, getStringChecksum(c.CloudConfigFile, c.Version)))
 	}
 	if len(c.PrivateRegistriesMap) > 0 {
 		kubeletDockerConfig, _ := docker.GetKubeletDockerConfig(c.PrivateRegistriesMap)
@@ -1274,9 +1278,25 @@ func (c *Cluster) getDefaultKubernetesServicesOptions(osType string) (v3.Kuberne
 	return v3.KubernetesServicesOptions{}, fmt.Errorf("getDefaultKubernetesServicesOptions: No serviceOptions found for cluster version [%s] or cluster major version [%s]", c.Version, clusterMajorVersion)
 }
 
-func getStringChecksum(config string) string {
-	configByteSum := md5.Sum([]byte(config))
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%x", configByteSum)
+func getStringChecksum(config string, version string) string {
+	greaterThan1316, err := util.SemVerMatchRange(version, util.SemVerK8sVersion1316OrHigher)
+	if err != nil {
+		logrus.Warnf("failed to check if version %q was greater than 1.31.6: %v, falling back to old behavior", version, err)
+	}
+
+	var hasher hash.Hash
+	if greaterThan1316 {
+		hasher = sha256.New()
+	} else {
+		hasher = md5.New()
+	}
+
+	_, err = hasher.Write([]byte(config))
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Fatalf("failed to hash config: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return hex.EncodeToString(hasher.Sum(nil))
 }
 
 func getUniqStringList(l []string) []string {
diff --git a/cluster/plan_test.go b/cluster/plan_test.go
index 5dcc3bc0..7735f93c 100644
--- a/cluster/plan_test.go
+++ b/cluster/plan_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package cluster
 
 import (
+	"crypto/md5"
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -50,3 +53,57 @@ func Test_getUniqStringList(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func Test_getStringChecksum(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		config   string
+		version  string
+		expected string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "version greater than 1.31.6, use sha256",
+			config:   "test-config",
+			version:  "v1.32.0-rancher0",
+			expected: fmt.Sprintf("%x", sha256.Sum256([]byte("test-config"))),
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "version exactly 1.31.6, use sha256",
+			config:   "test-config",
+			version:  "v1.31.6-rancher0",
+			expected: fmt.Sprintf("%x", sha256.Sum256([]byte("test-config"))),
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "version exactly 1.31.0, use md5",
+			config:   "test-config",
+			version:  "v1.31.0-rancher0",
+			expected: fmt.Sprintf("%x", md5.Sum([]byte("test-config"))),
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "version less than 1.31, use md5",
+			config:   "test-config",
+			version:  "v1.30.0-rancher0",
+			expected: fmt.Sprintf("%x", md5.Sum([]byte("test-config"))),
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "empty config",
+			config:   "",
+			version:  "v1.32.0-rancher0",
+			expected: fmt.Sprintf("%x", sha256.Sum256([]byte(""))),
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "empty version",
+			config:   "test-config",
+			version:  "",
+			expected: fmt.Sprintf("%x", md5.Sum([]byte("test-config"))),
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+			result := getStringChecksum(tt.config, tt.version)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.expected, result)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/util/util.go b/util/util.go
index 946f0f66..f3caeca2 100644
--- a/util/util.go
+++ b/util/util.go
@@ -17,8 +17,9 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	WorkerThreads               = 50
-	SemVerK8sVersion122OrHigher = ">=1.22.0-rancher0"
+	WorkerThreads                = 50
+	SemVerK8sVersion122OrHigher  = ">=1.22.0-rancher0"
+	SemVerK8sVersion1316OrHigher = ">=1.31.6-rancher0"
 )
 
 var ProxyEnvVars = [3]string{"HTTP_PROXY", "HTTPS_PROXY", "NO_PROXY"}