diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/CryptoUtil.cs b/OpenRA.Game/CryptoUtil.cs
index 7cc40a3fc4..bb5a2ef8b4 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/CryptoUtil.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/CryptoUtil.cs
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ namespace OpenRA
 		// Fixed byte pattern for the OID header
 		static readonly byte[] OIDHeader = { 0x30, 0xD, 0x6, 0x9, 0x2A, 0x86, 0x48, 0x86, 0xF7, 0xD, 0x1, 0x1, 0x1, 0x5, 0x0 };
 
+		static readonly char[] HexUpperAlphabet = "0123456789ABCDEF".ToArray();
+		static readonly char[] HexLowerAlphabet = "0123456789abcdef".ToArray();
+
 		public static string PublicKeyFingerprint(RSAParameters parameters)
 		{
 			// Public key fingerprint is defined as the SHA1 of the modulus + exponent bytes
@@ -249,19 +252,44 @@ namespace OpenRA
 
 		public static string SHA1Hash(Stream data)
 		{
-			using (var csp = SHA1.Create())
-				return new string(csp.ComputeHash(data).SelectMany(a => a.ToStringInvariant("x2")).ToArray());
+			using var csp = SHA1.Create();
+			return ToHex(csp.ComputeHash(data), true);
 		}
 
 		public static string SHA1Hash(byte[] data)
 		{
-			using (var csp = SHA1.Create())
-				return new string(csp.ComputeHash(data).SelectMany(a => a.ToStringInvariant("x2")).ToArray());
+			using var csp = SHA1.Create();
+			return ToHex(csp.ComputeHash(data), true);
 		}
 
 		public static string SHA1Hash(string data)
 		{
 			return SHA1Hash(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(data));
 		}
+
+		public static string ToHex(ReadOnlySpan<byte> source, bool lowerCase = false)
+		{
+			if (source.Length == 0)
+				return string.Empty;
+
+			// excessively avoid stack overflow if source is too large (considering that we're allocating a new string)
+			var buffer = source.Length <= 256 ? stackalloc char[source.Length * 2] : new char[source.Length * 2];
+			return ToHexInternal(source, buffer, lowerCase);
+		}
+
+		static string ToHexInternal(ReadOnlySpan<byte> source, Span<char> buffer, bool lowerCase)
+		{
+			var sourceIndex = 0;
+			var alphabet = lowerCase ? HexLowerAlphabet : HexUpperAlphabet;
+
+			for (var i = 0; i < buffer.Length; i += 2)
+			{
+				var b = source[sourceIndex++];
+				buffer[i] = alphabet[b >> 4];
+				buffer[i + 1] = alphabet[b & 0xF];
+			}
+
+			return new string(buffer);
+		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Primitives/Color.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Primitives/Color.cs
index 06c5cbca7c..5660386301 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Primitives/Color.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Primitives/Color.cs
@@ -224,9 +224,9 @@ namespace OpenRA.Primitives
 		public override string ToString()
 		{
 			if (A == 255)
-				return R.ToStringInvariant("X2") + G.ToStringInvariant("X2") + B.ToStringInvariant("X2");
+				return CryptoUtil.ToHex(stackalloc byte[3] { R, G, B });
 
-			return R.ToStringInvariant("X2") + G.ToStringInvariant("X2") + B.ToStringInvariant("X2") + A.ToStringInvariant("X2");
+			return CryptoUtil.ToHex(stackalloc byte[4] { R, G, B, A });
 		}
 
 		public static Color Transparent => FromArgb(0x00FFFFFF);
diff --git a/OpenRA.Test/OpenRA.Game/Sha1Tests.cs b/OpenRA.Test/OpenRA.Game/Sha1Tests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bdb811336a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/OpenRA.Test/OpenRA.Game/Sha1Tests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+using NUnit.Framework;
+using OpenRA.Primitives;
+
+namespace OpenRA.Test
+{
+	[TestFixture]
+	sealed class Sha1Tests
+	{
+		/// <summary>
+		/// https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1#Examples_and_pseudocode.
+		/// </summary>
+		/// <param name="input">The input string.</param>
+		/// <param name="expected">The expected hex string of the SHA1.</param>
+		[TestCase("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog", "2fd4e1c67a2d28fced849ee1bb76e7391b93eb12")]
+		[TestCase("The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy cog", "de9f2c7fd25e1b3afad3e85a0bd17d9b100db4b3")]
+		[TestCase("", "da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709")]
+		public void Sha1HexConvert(string input, string expected)
+		{
+			var actual = CryptoUtil.SHA1Hash(input);
+
+			Assert.AreEqual(expected, actual);
+		}
+
+		[TestCase(0xFF0000FF, "0000FF")]
+		[TestCase(0xFF00FFFF, "00FFFF")]
+		[TestCase(0xFFFF00FF, "FF00FF")]
+		[TestCase(0xAAFF00FF, "FF00FFAA")]
+		public void ColorsToHex(uint value, string expected)
+		{
+			var color = Color.FromArgb(value);
+			var actual = color.ToString();
+			Assert.AreEqual(expected, actual);
+		}
+	}
+}