diff --git a/docs/examples/packaging-github-repos.md b/docs/examples/packaging-github-repos.md
index 4d9f7e11a67..3a0e81c2f93 100644
--- a/docs/examples/packaging-github-repos.md
+++ b/docs/examples/packaging-github-repos.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ vcpkg_from_github(
 )
 ```
 
-The important parts to update are `REPO` for the GitHub repository path, `REF` for a stable tag/commit to use, and `SHA512` with the checksum of the downloaded zipfile (you can get this easily by setting it to `1`, trying to install the package, and copying the checksum).
+The important parts to update are `REPO` for the GitHub repository path, `REF` for a stable tag/commit to use, and `SHA512` with the checksum of the downloaded zipfile (you can get this easily by setting it to `0`, trying to install the package, and copying the checksum).
 
 Finally, we configure the project with CMake, install the package, and copy over the license file:
 
diff --git a/scripts/cmake/vcpkg_download_distfile.cmake b/scripts/cmake/vcpkg_download_distfile.cmake
index 1b06d7b5ba1..c859c98a017 100644
--- a/scripts/cmake/vcpkg_download_distfile.cmake
+++ b/scripts/cmake/vcpkg_download_distfile.cmake
@@ -80,12 +80,14 @@ function(vcpkg_download_distfile VAR)
             message(FATAL_ERROR "vcpkg_download_distfile must not be passed both SHA512 and SKIP_SHA512.")
         endif()
     endif()
-    if(vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512 STREQUAL "0")
-        string(REPEAT "0" 128 vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512)
-    endif()
-    string(LENGTH "${vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512}" vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512_length)
-    if(NOT vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512_length EQUAL "128")
-        message(FATAL_ERROR "Invalid SHA512: ${vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512}. If you do not know the file's SHA512, set this to \"0\".")
+    if(NOT vcpkg_download_distfile_SKIP_SHA512)
+        if(vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512 STREQUAL "0")
+            string(REPEAT "0" 128 vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512)
+        endif()
+        string(LENGTH "${vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512}" vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512_length)
+        if(NOT vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512_length EQUAL "128")
+            message(FATAL_ERROR "Invalid SHA512: ${vcpkg_download_distfile_SHA512}. If you do not know the file's SHA512, set this to \"0\".")
+        endif()
     endif()
 
     set(downloaded_file_path ${DOWNLOADS}/${vcpkg_download_distfile_FILENAME})