diff --git a/scripts/rcstack/rcstack b/scripts/rcstack/rcstack
index 80f5d85..05f3548 100755
--- a/scripts/rcstack/rcstack
+++ b/scripts/rcstack/rcstack
@@ -2123,10 +2123,24 @@ config_rhodecode_ini() {
 # src/lib/send_completions.sh
 
 # src/lib/utils.sh
+
+generate_md5() {
+  local input_string="$1"
+
+  if command -v md5 &> /dev/null; then
+    echo -n "$input_string" | md5
+  elif command -v md5sum &> /dev/null; then
+    echo -n "$input_string" | md5sum | awk '{print $1}'
+  else
+    echo "Error: Neither md5 nor md5sum command is available. Please make sure this is installed in your system"
+    return 1
+  fi
+}
+
 random_str() {
   len=$1
-  random_generate=$(echo $RANDOM | md5sum | head -c $len)
-  echo $random_generate
+  random_generate=$(generate_md5 $RANDOM | head -c $len)
+  echo "$random_generate"
 }
 
 # function to copy files with --backup=numbered option
@@ -2517,7 +2531,7 @@ rcstack_init_command() {
 
   bootstrap_config() {
     shared_key=$(random_str 32)
-    shared_key_md5=$(echo $shared_key | md5sum | head -c 32)
+    shared_key_md5=$(generate_md5 $shared_key | head -c 32)
     db_key=$(random_str 32)
 
     if [[ ! $no_prompt ]]; then
@@ -4265,13 +4279,6 @@ rcstack_init_parse_requirements() {
     exit 1
   fi
 
-  if command -v md5sum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-    deps['md5sum']="$(command -v md5sum | head -n1)"
-  else
-    printf "missing dependency: md5sum\n" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-
   if command -v find >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     deps['find']="$(command -v find | head -n1)"
   else
@@ -6786,7 +6793,7 @@ rcstack__completions_parse_requirements() {
 
 # :command.initialize
 initialize() {
-  version="5.0.3"
+  version="5.0.4"
   long_usage=''
   set -e