diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 0221ffb..f60bbd1 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Load SSL's error strings in hashlib.
+
 - Issue #18527: Upgrade internal copy of zlib to 1.2.8.
 
 - Issue #19274: Add a filterfunc parameter to PyZipFile.writepy.
diff --git a/Modules/_hashopenssl.c b/Modules/_hashopenssl.c
index d715500..222e5ef 100644
--- a/Modules/_hashopenssl.c
+++ b/Modules/_hashopenssl.c
@@ -847,6 +847,7 @@
     PyObject *m, *openssl_md_meth_names;
 
     OpenSSL_add_all_digests();
+    ERR_load_crypto_strings();
 
     /* TODO build EVP_functions openssl_* entries dynamically based
      * on what hashes are supported rather than listing many