diff --git a/docs/index.asciidoc b/docs/index.asciidoc
index 3f9380a..0d34d66 100644
--- a/docs/index.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/index.asciidoc
@@ -63,6 +63,23 @@ filter plugins.
 When set to `true`, the `SHA1`, `SHA256`, `SHA384`, `SHA512` and `MD5` fingerprint methods will produce
 base64 encoded rather than hex encoded strings.
 
+[id="plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-deep_sort"]
+===== `deep_sort`
+
+  * Value type is <<boolean,boolean>>
+  * Default value is `false`
+
+When set to `true` then the input fields will be deep sorted when
+serializing prior to fingerprint calculation.
+This is needed when you have nested hashes because otherwise the order of
+the inner hashes is non-deterministic and is going to result in different
+fingerprints for the same inputs.
+
+When you just start using this plugin, it should be safe to set `deep_sort`
+to `true` from the beginning. The reason this is not the default is because
+the serialization format changes with `deep_sort` even if there are no
+nested hashes.
+
 [id="plugins-{type}s-{plugin}-concatenate_sources"]
 ===== `concatenate_sources` 
 
diff --git a/lib/logstash/filters/fingerprint.rb b/lib/logstash/filters/fingerprint.rb
index 6df1361..da20f6d 100644
--- a/lib/logstash/filters/fingerprint.rb
+++ b/lib/logstash/filters/fingerprint.rb
@@ -63,6 +63,18 @@ class LogStash::Filters::Fingerprint < LogStash::Filters::Base
   # be generated. The result will be random and thus not a consistent hash.
   config :method, :validate => ['SHA1', 'SHA256', 'SHA384', 'SHA512', 'MD5', "MURMUR3", "IPV4_NETWORK", "UUID", "PUNCTUATION"], :required => true, :default => 'SHA1'
 
+  # When set to `true` then the input fields will be deep sorted when
+  # serializing prior to fingerprint calculation.
+  # This is needed when you have nested hashes because otherwise the order of
+  # the inner hashes is non-deterministic and is going to result in different
+  # fingerprints for the same inputs.
+  #
+  # When you just start using this plugin, it should be safe to set `deep_sort`
+  # to `true` from the beginning. The reason this is not the default is because
+  # the serialization format changes with `deep_sort` even if there are no
+  # nested hashes.
+  config :deep_sort, :validate => :boolean, :default => false
+
   # When set to `true` and `method` isn't `UUID` or `PUNCTUATION`, the
   # plugin concatenates the names and values of all fields given in the
   # `source` option into one string (like the old checksum filter) before
@@ -104,6 +116,22 @@ class << self; alias_method :fingerprint, :fingerprint_openssl; end
     end
   end
 
+  def serialize(event)
+    to_string = ""
+    if @deep_sort and event.respond_to?(:to_hash)
+      to_string << "{"
+      event.to_hash.sort.map do |k,v|
+        to_string << "#{k}:#{serialize(v)},"
+      end
+      to_string << "}"
+    else
+      # If not a hash and backwards compatibility.
+      to_string << "#{event}"
+    end
+
+    return to_string
+  end
+
   def filter(event)
     case @method
     when :UUID
@@ -120,12 +148,16 @@ def filter(event)
       if @concatenate_sources || @concatenate_all_fields
         to_string = ""
         if @concatenate_all_fields
-          event.to_hash.sort.map do |k,v|
-            to_string << "|#{k}|#{v}"
+          if @deep_sort
+            to_string << serialize(event)
+          else
+            event.to_hash.sort.map do |k,v|
+              to_string << "|#{k}|#{v}"
+            end
           end
         else
           @source.sort.each do |k|
-            to_string << "|#{k}|#{event.get(k)}"
+            to_string << "|#{k}|#{serialize(event.get(k))}"
           end
         end
         to_string << "|"
@@ -135,9 +167,9 @@ def filter(event)
         @source.each do |field|
           next unless event.include?(field)
           if event.get(field).is_a?(Array)
-            event.set(@target, event.get(field).collect { |v| fingerprint(v) })
+            event.set(@target, event.get(field).collect { |v| fingerprint(serialize(v)) })
           else
-            event.set(@target, fingerprint(event.get(field)))
+            event.set(@target, fingerprint(serialize(event.get(field))))
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/spec/filters/fingerprint_spec.rb b/spec/filters/fingerprint_spec.rb
index 24ebf3d..f5493fc 100644
--- a/spec/filters/fingerprint_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/filters/fingerprint_spec.rb
@@ -83,6 +83,24 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe "fingerprint string with SHA1 HMAC algorithm on all event fields with deep_sort" do
+    config <<-CONFIG
+      filter {
+        fingerprint {
+          concatenate_all_fields => true
+          key => "longencryptionkey"
+          method => 'SHA1'
+          deep_sort => true
+        }
+      }
+    CONFIG
+
+    # The @timestamp field is specified in this sample event as we need the event contents to be constant for the tests
+    sample("@timestamp" => "2017-07-26T14:44:27.064Z", "clientip" => "123.123.123.123", "message" => "This is a test message", "log_level" => "INFO", "offset" => 123456789, "type" => "test", "beat" => {"hostname" => "gnu.example.com", "name" => "gnu.example.com", "version" => "5.2.2"}) do
+      insist { subject.get("fingerprint") } == "e39ef60e5fb431aa7f9847a4591bf1ffe49cd410"
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "fingerprint string with SHA1 algorithm and base64 encoding" do
     config <<-CONFIG
       filter {