diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index dbe1082a648..4b6aa8ffb22 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ Other contributors, listed alphabetically, are:
 * Daniel Pizetta -- inheritance diagram improvements
 * KINEBUCHI Tomohiko -- typing Sphinx as well as docutils
 * Adrián Chaves (Gallaecio) -- coverage builder improvements
+* Lars Hupfeldt Nielsen - OpenSSL FIPS mode md5 bug fix
 
 Many thanks for all contributions!
 
diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 9d788606309..eaa9a0760f1 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Bugs fixed
 ----------
 
 * #7567: autodoc: parametrized types are shown twice for generic types
+* #7611: md5 fails when OpenSSL FIPS is enabled
 
 Testing
 --------
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py b/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py
index 320c7feb6b7..982889b74a6 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/html/__init__.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 import re
 import sys
 import warnings
-from hashlib import md5
 from os import path
 from typing import Any, Dict, IO, Iterable, Iterator, List, Set, Tuple
 
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@
 from sphinx.locale import _, __
 from sphinx.search import js_index
 from sphinx.theming import HTMLThemeFactory
-from sphinx.util import logging, progress_message, status_iterator
+from sphinx.util import logging, progress_message, status_iterator, fips_safe_md5
 from sphinx.util.docutils import is_html5_writer_available, new_document
 from sphinx.util.fileutil import copy_asset
 from sphinx.util.i18n import format_date
@@ -77,7 +76,7 @@ def get_stable_hash(obj: Any) -> str:
         return get_stable_hash(list(obj.items()))
     elif isinstance(obj, (list, tuple)):
         obj = sorted(get_stable_hash(o) for o in obj)
-    return md5(str(obj).encode()).hexdigest()
+    return fips_safe_md5(str(obj).encode()).hexdigest()
 
 
 class Stylesheet(str):
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py b/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py
index db2a15b14c0..407fe09f5a3 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ class E(B): pass
 import builtins
 import inspect
 import re
-from hashlib import md5
 from importlib import import_module
 from typing import Any, Dict, Iterable, List, Tuple
 from typing import cast
@@ -55,6 +54,7 @@ class E(B): pass
     graphviz, figure_wrapper,
     render_dot_html, render_dot_latex, render_dot_texinfo
 )
+from sphinx.util import fips_safe_md5
 from sphinx.util.docutils import SphinxDirective
 from sphinx.writers.html import HTMLTranslator
 from sphinx.writers.latex import LaTeXTranslator
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ def run(self) -> List[Node]:
 
 def get_graph_hash(node: inheritance_diagram) -> str:
     encoded = (node['content'] + str(node['parts'])).encode()
-    return md5(encoded).hexdigest()[-10:]
+    return fips_safe_md5(encoded).hexdigest()[-10:]
 
 
 def html_visit_inheritance_diagram(self: HTMLTranslator, node: inheritance_diagram) -> None:
diff --git a/sphinx/util/__init__.py b/sphinx/util/__init__.py
index 12ae051f106..3c219cc6736 100644
--- a/sphinx/util/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/util/__init__.py
@@ -170,6 +170,21 @@ def __setstate__(self, state: Set[str]) -> None:
         self._existing = state
 
 
+def fips_safe_md5(data=b'', **kwargs):
+    """Wrapper around hashlib.md5
+
+    Attempt call with 'usedforsecurity=False' if we get a ValueError, which happens when OpenSSL FIPS mode is enabled:
+    ValueError: error:060800A3:digital envelope routines:EVP_DigestInit_ex:disabled for fips
+
+    See: https://github.com/sphinx-doc/sphinx/issues/7611
+    """
+
+    try:
+        return md5(data, **kwargs)
+    except ValueError:
+        return md5(data, **kwargs, usedforsecurity=False)
+
+
 class DownloadFiles(dict):
     """A special dictionary for download files.
 
@@ -179,7 +194,7 @@ class DownloadFiles(dict):
 
     def add_file(self, docname: str, filename: str) -> str:
         if filename not in self:
-            digest = md5(filename.encode()).hexdigest()
+            digest = fips_safe_md5(filename.encode()).hexdigest()
             dest = '%s/%s' % (digest, os.path.basename(filename))
             self[filename] = (set(), dest)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_build_html.py b/tests/test_build_html.py
index ede3683155b..a93553361eb 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_html.py
+++ b/tests/test_build_html.py
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 
 import os
 import re
-from hashlib import md5
 from itertools import cycle, chain
 
 import pytest
@@ -19,7 +18,7 @@
 from sphinx.builders.html import validate_html_extra_path, validate_html_static_path
 from sphinx.errors import ConfigError
 from sphinx.testing.util import strip_escseq
-from sphinx.util import docutils
+from sphinx.util import docutils, fips_safe_md5
 from sphinx.util.inventory import InventoryFile
 
 
@@ -450,9 +449,9 @@ def test_html_download(app):
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('html', testroot='roles-download')
 def test_html_download_role(app, status, warning):
     app.build()
-    digest = md5(b'dummy.dat').hexdigest()
+    digest = fips_safe_md5(b'dummy.dat').hexdigest()
     assert (app.outdir / '_downloads' / digest / 'dummy.dat').exists()
-    digest_another = md5(b'another/dummy.dat').hexdigest()
+    digest_another = fips_safe_md5(b'another/dummy.dat').hexdigest()
     assert (app.outdir / '_downloads' / digest_another / 'dummy.dat').exists()
 
     content = (app.outdir / 'index.html').read_text()