diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index f85ea0287..bf83ea958 100644
--- a/lib/core/settings.py
+++ b/lib/core/settings.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ from lib.core.enums import OS
 from thirdparty.six import unichr as _unichr
 
 # sqlmap version (<major>.<minor>.<month>.<monthly commit>)
-VERSION = "1.4.1.60"
+VERSION = "1.4.1.61"
 TYPE = "dev" if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] != '0' else "stable"
 TYPE_COLORS = {"dev": 33, "stable": 90, "pip": 34}
 VERSION_STRING = "sqlmap/%s#%s" % ('.'.join(VERSION.split('.')[:-1]) if VERSION.count('.') > 2 and VERSION.split('.')[-1] == '0' else VERSION, TYPE)
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ LARGE_OUTPUT_THRESHOLD = 1024 ** 2
 SLOW_ORDER_COUNT_THRESHOLD = 10000
 
 # Give up on hash recognition if nothing was found in first given number of rows
-HASH_RECOGNITION_QUIT_THRESHOLD = 10000
+HASH_RECOGNITION_QUIT_THRESHOLD = 1000
 
 # Regular expression used for automatic hex conversion and hash cracking of (RAW) binary column values
 HASH_BINARY_COLUMNS_REGEX = r"(?i)pass|psw|hash"
diff --git a/lib/utils/hash.py b/lib/utils/hash.py
index 70b008e79..fff9bdbd6 100644
--- a/lib/utils/hash.py
+++ b/lib/utils/hash.py
@@ -727,21 +727,31 @@ def attackDumpedTable():
                             table[column]['length'] = max(table[column]['length'], len(table[column]['values'][i]))
 
 def hashRecognition(value):
+    """
+    >>> hashRecognition("179ad45c6ce2cb97cf1029e212046e81") == HASH.MD5_GENERIC
+    True
+    >>> hashRecognition("S:2BFCFDF5895014EE9BB2B9BA067B01E0389BB5711B7B5F82B7235E9E182C") == HASH.ORACLE
+    True
+    >>> hashRecognition("foobar") == None
+    True
+    """
+
     retVal = None
 
-    isOracle, isMySQL = Backend.isDbms(DBMS.ORACLE), Backend.isDbms(DBMS.MYSQL)
+    if value and len(value) >= 8 and ' ' not in value:   # Note: pre-filter condition (for optimization purposes)
+        isOracle, isMySQL = Backend.isDbms(DBMS.ORACLE), Backend.isDbms(DBMS.MYSQL)
 
-    if isinstance(value, six.string_types):
-        for name, regex in getPublicTypeMembers(HASH):
-            # Hashes for Oracle and old MySQL look the same hence these checks
-            if isOracle and regex == HASH.MYSQL_OLD or isMySQL and regex == HASH.ORACLE_OLD:
-                continue
-            elif regex == HASH.CRYPT_GENERIC:
-                if any((value.lower() == value, value.upper() == value)):
+        if isinstance(value, six.string_types):
+            for name, regex in getPublicTypeMembers(HASH):
+                # Hashes for Oracle and old MySQL look the same hence these checks
+                if isOracle and regex == HASH.MYSQL_OLD or isMySQL and regex == HASH.ORACLE_OLD:
                     continue
-            elif re.match(regex, value):
-                retVal = regex
-                break
+                elif regex == HASH.CRYPT_GENERIC:
+                    if any((value.lower() == value, value.upper() == value)):
+                        continue
+                elif re.match(regex, value):
+                    retVal = regex
+                    break
 
     return retVal