diff --git a/pkg/downloader/downloader.go b/pkg/downloader/downloader.go
index 289f47c9629..bfb73776020 100644
--- a/pkg/downloader/downloader.go
+++ b/pkg/downloader/downloader.go
@@ -122,9 +122,6 @@ func WithDecompress(decompress bool) Opt {
 func WithExpectedDigest(expectedDigest digest.Digest) Opt {
 	return func(o *options) error {
 		if expectedDigest != "" {
-			if !expectedDigest.Algorithm().Available() {
-				return fmt.Errorf("expected digest algorithm %q is not available", expectedDigest.Algorithm())
-			}
 			if err := expectedDigest.Validate(); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/downloader/downloader_test.go b/pkg/downloader/downloader_test.go
index 1173df50a63..7e471811849 100644
--- a/pkg/downloader/downloader_test.go
+++ b/pkg/downloader/downloader_test.go
@@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ func TestDownloadRemote(t *testing.T) {
 			_, err := Download(context.Background(), localPath, dummyRemoteFileURL, WithExpectedDigest(wrongDigest))
 			assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "expected digest")
 
+			wrongDigest2 := digest.Digest("8313944efb4f38570c689813f288058b674ea6c487017a5a4738dc674b65f9d9")
+			_, err = Download(context.Background(), localPath, dummyRemoteFileURL, WithExpectedDigest(wrongDigest2))
+			assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "invalid checksum digest format")
+
 			r, err := Download(context.Background(), localPath, dummyRemoteFileURL, WithExpectedDigest(dummyRemoteFileDigest))
 			assert.NilError(t, err)
 			assert.Equal(t, StatusDownloaded, r.Status)
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
index 2043aa19e1e..e09f56b3a1b 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/validate.go
@@ -425,9 +425,6 @@ func validateFileObject(f File, fieldName string) error {
 		errs = errors.Join(errs, fmt.Errorf("field `arch` must be one of %v; got %q", ArchTypes, f.Arch))
 	}
 	if f.Digest != "" {
-		if !f.Digest.Algorithm().Available() {
-			errs = errors.Join(errs, fmt.Errorf("field `%s.digest` refers to an unavailable digest algorithm", fieldName))
-		}
 		if err := f.Digest.Validate(); err != nil {
 			errs = errors.Join(errs, fmt.Errorf("field `%s.digest` is invalid: %s: %w", fieldName, f.Digest.String(), err))
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/limayaml/validate_test.go b/pkg/limayaml/validate_test.go
index 4d89d47c7eb..5c9d696a0de 100644
--- a/pkg/limayaml/validate_test.go
+++ b/pkg/limayaml/validate_test.go
@@ -73,6 +73,21 @@ func TestValidateMinimumLimaVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestValidateDigest(t *testing.T) {
+	images := `images: [{"location": "https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/oracular/release-20250701/ubuntu-24.10-server-cloudimg-amd64.img",digest: "69f31d3208895e5f646e345fbc95190e5e311ecd1359a4d6ee2c0b6483ceca03"}]`
+	validProbe := `probes: [{"script": "#!foo"}]`
+	y, err := Load([]byte(validProbe+"\n"+images), "lima.yaml")
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	err = Validate(y, false)
+	assert.Error(t, err, "field `images[0].digest` is invalid: 69f31d3208895e5f646e345fbc95190e5e311ecd1359a4d6ee2c0b6483ceca03: invalid checksum digest format")
+
+	images2 := `images: [{"location": "https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/oracular/release-20250701/ubuntu-24.10-server-cloudimg-amd64.img",digest: "sha001:69f31d3208895e5f646e345fbc95190e5e311ecd1359a4d6ee2c0b6483ceca03"}]`
+	y2, err := Load([]byte(validProbe+"\n"+images2), "lima.yaml")
+	assert.NilError(t, err)
+	err = Validate(y2, false)
+	assert.Error(t, err, "field `images[0].digest` is invalid: sha001:69f31d3208895e5f646e345fbc95190e5e311ecd1359a4d6ee2c0b6483ceca03: unsupported digest algorithm")
+}
+
 func TestValidateProbes(t *testing.T) {
 	images := `images: [{"location": "/"}]`
 	validProbe := `probes: [{"script": "#!foo"}]`