diff --git a/google/cloud/storage/_helpers.py b/google/cloud/storage/_helpers.py
index 674dced79..236480a7e 100644
--- a/google/cloud/storage/_helpers.py
+++ b/google/cloud/storage/_helpers.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import datetime
 from hashlib import md5
 import os
+import sys
 from urllib.parse import urlsplit
 from urllib.parse import urlunsplit
 from uuid import uuid4
@@ -536,7 +537,10 @@ def _base64_md5hash(buffer_object):
     :rtype: str
     :returns: A base64 encoded digest of the MD5 hash.
     """
-    hash_obj = md5()
+    if sys.version_info >= (3, 9):
+        hash_obj = md5(usedforsecurity=False)
+    else:
+        hash_obj = md5()
     _write_buffer_to_hash(buffer_object, hash_obj)
     digest_bytes = hash_obj.digest()
     return base64.b64encode(digest_bytes)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test__helpers.py b/tests/unit/test__helpers.py
index d628bfddb..1615738d1 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test__helpers.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test__helpers.py
@@ -735,7 +735,7 @@ def __init__(self, digest_val):
         self.hash_obj = _MD5Hash(digest_val)
         self._called = []
 
-    def __call__(self, data=None):
+    def __call__(self, data=None, usedforsecurity=True):
         self._called.append(data)
         return self.hash_obj