diff --git a/checkin_notes b/checkin_notes
index 80e08a4d69..a8251c46c7 100644
--- a/checkin_notes
+++ b/checkin_notes
@@ -264,3 +264,9 @@ David  10 Jan 2010
 
     clientgui/
         ViewNotifications.cpp
+
+David  10 Jan 2010
+    - fix python deprecation warning (from Jeremy Cowles)
+
+    py/Boinc/
+        tools.py
diff --git a/py/Boinc/tools.py b/py/Boinc/tools.py
index 4a89ce7f1e..761aae8483 100644
--- a/py/Boinc/tools.py
+++ b/py/Boinc/tools.py
@@ -1,7 +1,12 @@
 ## $Id$
 
 import configxml
-import os, md5, shutil, binascii, filecmp
+try:
+    # use new hashlib if available
+    from hashlib import md5
+except:
+    import md5
+import os, shutil, binascii, filecmp
 
 def check_immutable(src, dst):
     if not os.path.exists(dst):