diff --git a/src/vs/base/browser/hash.ts b/src/vs/base/browser/hash.ts
index bf48b614b15..10b7398ee81 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/browser/hash.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/browser/hash.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ export async function sha1Hex(str: string): Promise<string> {
 
 	// Prefer to use browser's crypto module
 	if (globalThis?.crypto?.subtle) {
-		const hash = await globalThis.crypto.subtle.digest({ name: 'sha-1' }, VSBuffer.fromString(str).buffer);
+		const hash = await globalThis.crypto.subtle.digest({ name: 'sha-1' }, VSBuffer.fromString(str, { dontUseNodeBuffer: true }).buffer);
 
 		return toHexString(hash);
 	}
diff --git a/src/vs/base/common/buffer.ts b/src/vs/base/common/buffer.ts
index 6c6285e0c3b..9df28d9b4d2 100644
--- a/src/vs/base/common/buffer.ts
+++ b/src/vs/base/common/buffer.ts
@@ -34,8 +34,9 @@ export class VSBuffer {
 		return new VSBuffer(actual);
 	}
 
-	static fromString(source: string): VSBuffer {
-		if (hasBuffer) {
+	static fromString(source: string, options?: { dontUseNodeBuffer?: boolean; }): VSBuffer {
+		const dontUseNodeBuffer = options?.dontUseNodeBuffer || false;
+		if (!dontUseNodeBuffer && hasBuffer) {
 			return new VSBuffer(Buffer.from(source));
 		} else if (hasTextEncoder) {
 			if (!textEncoder) {