diff --git a/pkg/api/util/names.go b/pkg/api/util/names.go
index 2f3e2a0e7..e74cdacf4 100644
--- a/pkg/api/util/names.go
+++ b/pkg/api/util/names.go
@@ -22,30 +22,35 @@ import (
 	"hash/fnv"
 
 	"regexp"
-
-	cmapi "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/apis/certmanager/v1"
 )
 
-func ComputeCertificateRequestName(crt *cmapi.Certificate) (string, error) {
-	specBytes, err := json.Marshal(crt.Spec)
+func ComputeName(prefix string, obj interface{}) (string, error) {
+	objectBytes, err := json.Marshal(obj)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
 	hashF := fnv.New32()
-	_, err = hashF.Write(specBytes)
+	_, err = hashF.Write(objectBytes)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
 
-	crtName := crt.Name
-	if len(crtName) >= 52 {
+	// we're shortening to stay under 64 as we use this in services
+	// and pods down the road for ACME resources.
+	prefix = DNSSafeShortenTo52Characters(prefix)
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", prefix, hashF.Sum32()), nil
+}
+
+func DNSSafeShortenTo52Characters(in string) string {
+	if len(in) >= 52 {
 		// shorten the cert name to 52 chars to ensure the total length of the name
 		// also shorten the 52 char string to the last non-symbol character
 		// is less than or equal to 64 characters
-		validCharIndexes := regexp.MustCompile(`[a-zA-Z\d]`).FindAllStringIndex(fmt.Sprintf("%.52s", crtName), -1)
-		crtName = crtName[:validCharIndexes[len(validCharIndexes)-1][1]]
+		validCharIndexes := regexp.MustCompile(`[a-zA-Z\d]`).FindAllStringIndex(fmt.Sprintf("%.52s", in), -1)
+		in = in[:validCharIndexes[len(validCharIndexes)-1][1]]
 	}
 
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", crtName, hashF.Sum32()), nil
+	return in
 }
diff --git a/pkg/api/util/names_test.go b/pkg/api/util/names_test.go
index 556698ed8..1e00d4cf6 100644
--- a/pkg/api/util/names_test.go
+++ b/pkg/api/util/names_test.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation"
 )
 
-func TestComputeCertificateRequestName(t *testing.T) {
+func TestComputeName(t *testing.T) {
 	type args struct {
 		crt *cmapi.Certificate
 	}
@@ -97,16 +97,16 @@ func TestComputeCertificateRequestName(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
 		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			got, err := ComputeCertificateRequestName(tt.args.crt)
+			got, err := ComputeName(tt.args.crt.Name, tt.args.crt.Spec)
 			if (err != nil) != tt.wantErr {
-				t.Errorf("ComputeCertificateRequestName() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
+				t.Errorf("ComputeName() error = %v, wantErr %v", err, tt.wantErr)
 				return
 			}
 			if got != tt.want {
-				t.Errorf("ComputeCertificateRequestName() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
+				t.Errorf("ComputeName() = %v, want %v", got, tt.want)
 			}
 			if len(validation.IsQualifiedName(got)) != 0 {
-				t.Errorf("ComputeCertificateRequestName() = %v is not DNS-1123 valid", got)
+				t.Errorf("ComputeName() = %v is not DNS-1123 valid", got)
 			}
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/acmeorders/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/controller/acmeorders/BUILD.bazel
index 6d345dee3..4382434f3 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/acmeorders/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/controller/acmeorders/BUILD.bazel
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/acme:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/acme/accounts:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/acme/client:go_default_library",
+        "//pkg/api/util:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/apis/acme/v1:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/apis/certmanager/v1:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/client/clientset/versioned:go_default_library",
diff --git a/pkg/controller/acmeorders/util.go b/pkg/controller/acmeorders/util.go
index 8b4697ef1..f30e16935 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/acmeorders/util.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/acmeorders/util.go
@@ -20,12 +20,13 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/acme"
 	"hash/fnv"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 
+	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/acme"
 	acmecl "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/acme/client"
+	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/api/util"
 	cmacme "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/apis/acme/v1"
 	cmapi "github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/apis/certmanager/v1"
 	"github.com/jetstack/cert-manager/pkg/controller/acmeorders/selectors"
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ func buildChallenge(ctx context.Context, cl acmecl.Interface, issuer cmapi.Gener
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	chName, err := buildChallengeName(o.Name, *chSpec)
+	chName, err := util.ComputeName(o.Name, chSpec)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -80,15 +81,6 @@ func buildChallenge(ctx context.Context, cl acmecl.Interface, issuer cmapi.Gener
 	}, nil
 }
 
-func buildChallengeName(orderName string, chSpec cmacme.ChallengeSpec) (string, error) {
-	hash, err := hashChallenge(chSpec)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", err
-	}
-
-	return fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", orderName, hash), nil
-}
-
 func hashChallenge(spec cmacme.ChallengeSpec) (uint32, error) {
 	specBytes, err := json.Marshal(spec)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/certificaterequests/acme/acme.go b/pkg/controller/certificaterequests/acme/acme.go
index 234df746c..29bfee2a6 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/certificaterequests/acme/acme.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/certificaterequests/acme/acme.go
@@ -19,9 +19,7 @@ package acme
 import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/x509"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
-	"hash/fnv"
 
 	k8sErrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -208,7 +206,11 @@ func buildOrder(cr *v1.CertificateRequest, csr *x509.CertificateRequest) (*cmacm
 		CommonName: csr.Subject.CommonName,
 		DNSNames:   csr.DNSNames,
 	}
-	hash, err := hashOrder(spec)
+
+	computeNameSpec := spec.DeepCopy()
+	// create a deep copy of the OrderSpec so we can overwrite the Request field
+	computeNameSpec.Request = nil
+	name, err := apiutil.ComputeName(cr.Name, computeNameSpec)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -218,7 +220,7 @@ func buildOrder(cr *v1.CertificateRequest, csr *x509.CertificateRequest) (*cmacm
 	// the hyphen.
 	return &cmacme.Order{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
-			Name:        fmt.Sprintf("%.52s-%d", cr.Name, hash),
+			Name:        name,
 			Namespace:   cr.Namespace,
 			Labels:      cr.Labels,
 			Annotations: cr.Annotations,
@@ -229,21 +231,3 @@ func buildOrder(cr *v1.CertificateRequest, csr *x509.CertificateRequest) (*cmacm
 		Spec: spec,
 	}, nil
 }
-
-func hashOrder(orderSpec cmacme.OrderSpec) (uint32, error) {
-	// create a shallow copy of the OrderSpec so we can overwrite the Request field
-	orderSpec.Request = nil
-
-	orderSpecBytes, err := json.Marshal(orderSpec)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, err
-	}
-
-	hashF := fnv.New32()
-	_, err = hashF.Write(orderSpecBytes)
-	if err != nil {
-		return 0, err
-	}
-
-	return hashF.Sum32(), nil
-}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/certificates/internal/test/test.go b/pkg/controller/certificates/internal/test/test.go
index 3561ec703..65435c9f7 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/certificates/internal/test/test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/certificates/internal/test/test.go
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ func createCryptoBundle(originalCert *cmapi.Certificate, fixedClock *fakeclock.F
 	if crt.Spec.PrivateKey == nil {
 		crt.Spec.PrivateKey = &cmapi.CertificatePrivateKey{}
 	}
-	reqName, err := apiutil.ComputeCertificateRequestName(crt)
+	reqName, err := apiutil.ComputeName(crt.Name, crt.Spec)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/requestmanager_controller.go b/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/requestmanager_controller.go
index d1d334526..3334d21b2 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/requestmanager_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/requestmanager_controller.go
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ func (c *controller) createNewCertificateRequest(ctx context.Context, crt *cmapi
 	cr := &cmapi.CertificateRequest{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 			Namespace:       crt.Namespace,
-			GenerateName:    crt.Name + "-",
+			GenerateName:    apiutil.DNSSafeShortenTo52Characters(crt.Name) + "-",
 			Annotations:     annotations,
 			Labels:          crt.Labels,
 			OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{*metav1.NewControllerRef(crt, certificateGvk)},
diff --git a/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/util_test.go b/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/util_test.go
index 7b7e7a1ed..58310d2c9 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/certificates/requestmanager/util_test.go
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ func createCryptoBundle(originalCert *cmapi.Certificate) (*cryptoBundle, error)
 	if crt.Spec.PrivateKey == nil {
 		crt.Spec.PrivateKey = &cmapi.CertificatePrivateKey{}
 	}
-	reqName, err := apiutil.ComputeCertificateRequestName(crt)
+	reqName, err := apiutil.ComputeName(crt.Name, crt.Spec)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/test/e2e/framework/helper/certificates.go b/test/e2e/framework/helper/certificates.go
index f9ba53b69..549138bb7 100644
--- a/test/e2e/framework/helper/certificates.go
+++ b/test/e2e/framework/helper/certificates.go
@@ -364,7 +364,7 @@ func (h *Helper) describeCertificateRequestFromCertificate(ns string, certificat
 		return
 	}
 
-	crName, err := apiutil.ComputeCertificateRequestName(certificate)
+	crName, err := apiutil.ComputeName(certificate.Name, certificate.Spec)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Logf("Failed to compute CertificateRequest name from certificate: %s", err)
 		return