diff --git a/ssh/client_auth.go b/ssh/client_auth.go
index f3265655ee..c43489ac4d 100644
--- a/ssh/client_auth.go
+++ b/ssh/client_auth.go
@@ -201,7 +201,19 @@ func (cb publicKeyCallback) auth(session []byte, user string, c packetConn, rand
 	}
 	var methods []string
 	for _, signer := range signers {
-		ok, err := validateKey(signer.PublicKey(), user, c)
+
+		// In order for the publicKeyCallback to play nice with custom
+		// AlgorithmSigners, it needs to know which algorithm the key is signed
+		// with. In most cases, this is just the key type, but in some special
+		// cases these won't match. For example, it is valid to sign an ssh-rsa
+		// key with the algorithm "rsa-sha2-256"
+		pub := signer.PublicKey()
+		algoname := pub.Type()
+		if algoNameSigner, ok := signer.(AlgorithmSignerWithAlgoName); ok {
+			algoname = algoNameSigner.AlgorithmName()
+		}
+
+		ok, err := validateKey(pub, user, c, algoname)
 		if err != nil {
 			return authFailure, nil, err
 		}
@@ -209,13 +221,12 @@ func (cb publicKeyCallback) auth(session []byte, user string, c packetConn, rand
 			continue
 		}
 
-		pub := signer.PublicKey()
 		pubKey := pub.Marshal()
 		sign, err := signer.Sign(rand, buildDataSignedForAuth(session, userAuthRequestMsg{
 			User:    user,
 			Service: serviceSSH,
 			Method:  cb.method(),
-		}, []byte(pub.Type()), pubKey))
+		}, []byte(algoname), pubKey))
 		if err != nil {
 			return authFailure, nil, err
 		}
@@ -229,7 +240,7 @@ func (cb publicKeyCallback) auth(session []byte, user string, c packetConn, rand
 			Service:  serviceSSH,
 			Method:   cb.method(),
 			HasSig:   true,
-			Algoname: pub.Type(),
+			Algoname: algoname,
 			PubKey:   pubKey,
 			Sig:      sig,
 		}
@@ -266,26 +277,25 @@ func containsMethod(methods []string, method string) bool {
 }
 
 // validateKey validates the key provided is acceptable to the server.
-func validateKey(key PublicKey, user string, c packetConn) (bool, error) {
+func validateKey(key PublicKey, user string, c packetConn, algoname string) (bool, error) {
 	pubKey := key.Marshal()
 	msg := publickeyAuthMsg{
 		User:     user,
 		Service:  serviceSSH,
 		Method:   "publickey",
 		HasSig:   false,
-		Algoname: key.Type(),
+		Algoname: algoname,
 		PubKey:   pubKey,
 	}
 	if err := c.writePacket(Marshal(&msg)); err != nil {
 		return false, err
 	}
 
-	return confirmKeyAck(key, c)
+	return confirmKeyAck(key, c, algoname)
 }
 
-func confirmKeyAck(key PublicKey, c packetConn) (bool, error) {
+func confirmKeyAck(key PublicKey, c packetConn, algoname string) (bool, error) {
 	pubKey := key.Marshal()
-	algoname := key.Type()
 
 	for {
 		packet, err := c.readPacket()
diff --git a/ssh/client_auth_test.go b/ssh/client_auth_test.go
index 63a8e22487..baacb7e24a 100644
--- a/ssh/client_auth_test.go
+++ b/ssh/client_auth_test.go
@@ -272,6 +272,36 @@ func TestMethodInvalidAlgorithm(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestMethodAlgorithmSignerWithAlgoName(t *testing.T) {
+	algSigner, _ := NewAlgorithmSignerFromSigner(testSigners["rsa"], SigAlgoRSASHA2256)
+	config := &ClientConfig{
+		User: "testuser",
+		Auth: []AuthMethod{
+			PublicKeys(algSigner),
+		},
+		HostKeyCallback: InsecureIgnoreHostKey(),
+	}
+
+	// Once SigAlgoRSASHA2256 is implemented in the ssh server, this test
+	// will pass, and will need to be updated.
+	err, serverErrors := tryAuthBothSides(t, config, nil)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("login succeeded")
+	}
+
+	found := false
+	want := "\"rsa-sha2-256\" not accepted"
+
+	var errStrings []string
+	for _, err := range serverErrors {
+		found = found || (err != nil && strings.Contains(err.Error(), want))
+		errStrings = append(errStrings, err.Error())
+	}
+	if !found {
+		t.Errorf("server got error %q, want substring %q", errStrings, want)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestClientHMAC(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, mac := range supportedMACs {
 		config := &ClientConfig{
diff --git a/ssh/keys.go b/ssh/keys.go
index 31f26349a0..2bbe464238 100644
--- a/ssh/keys.go
+++ b/ssh/keys.go
@@ -333,6 +333,51 @@ type AlgorithmSigner interface {
 	SignWithAlgorithm(rand io.Reader, data []byte, algorithm string) (*Signature, error)
 }
 
+// An AlgorithmSignerWithAlgoName is a Signer that also supports specifying a
+// specific algorithm to use for signing, and can provide the name of the
+// algorithm being used to sign.
+type AlgorithmSignerWithAlgoName interface {
+	AlgorithmSigner
+
+	// AlgorithmName returns the name of the algorithm being used by the
+	// AlgorithmSigner.
+	AlgorithmName() string
+}
+
+// algorithmSignerWithAlgoName is a struct that implements the
+// AlgorithmSignerWithAlgoName interface. Use NewAlgorithmSignerFromSigner
+// to instantiate it outside of the ssh library.
+type algorithmSignerWithAlgoName struct {
+	AlgorithmSigner
+	algorithm string
+}
+
+func (s *algorithmSignerWithAlgoName) Sign(rand io.Reader, data []byte) (*Signature, error) {
+	return s.SignWithAlgorithm(rand, data, s.algorithm)
+}
+
+func (s *algorithmSignerWithAlgoName) AlgorithmName() string {
+	return s.algorithm
+}
+
+// NewAlgorithmSignerFromSigner takes any ssh.AlgorithmSigner implementation and
+// an algorithm name to sign with, and returns an AlgorithmSignerWithAlgoName.
+// This can be used in PublicKeysCallback to set custom algorithms during the
+// ssh handshake.
+func NewAlgorithmSignerFromSigner(signer Signer, algorithm string) (Signer, error) {
+	algorithmSigner, ok := signer.(AlgorithmSigner)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, errors.New("unable to cast to ssh.AlgorithmSigner")
+	}
+
+	s := algorithmSignerWithAlgoName{
+		algorithmSigner,
+		algorithm,
+	}
+
+	return &s, nil
+}
+
 type rsaPublicKey rsa.PublicKey
 
 func (r *rsaPublicKey) Type() string {