diff --git a/dandi/files/zarr.py b/dandi/files/zarr.py
index bcb5dba7f..9b7e82cd1 100644
--- a/dandi/files/zarr.py
+++ b/dandi/files/zarr.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 from time import sleep
 from typing import Any
 
-from dandischema.digests.zarr import get_checksum
 from dandischema.models import BareAsset, DigestType
 import requests
 from zarr_checksum.tree import ZarrChecksumTree
@@ -159,25 +158,25 @@ def stat(self) -> ZarrStat:
 
         def dirstat(dirpath: LocalZarrEntry) -> ZarrStat:
             # Avoid heavy import by importing within function:
-            from dandi.support.digests import md5file_nocache
+            from dandi.support.digests import checksum_zarr_dir, md5file_nocache
 
             size = 0
-            dir_md5s = {}
-            file_md5s = {}
+            dir_info = {}
+            file_info = {}
             files = []
             for p in dirpath.iterdir():
                 if p.is_dir():
                     st = dirstat(p)
                     size += st.size
-                    dir_md5s[p.name] = (st.digest.value, st.size)
+                    dir_info[p.name] = (st.digest.value, st.size)
                     files.extend(st.files)
                 else:
                     size += p.size
-                    file_md5s[p.name] = (md5file_nocache(p.filepath), p.size)
+                    file_info[p.name] = (md5file_nocache(p.filepath), p.size)
                     files.append(p)
             return ZarrStat(
                 size=size,
-                digest=Digest.dandi_zarr(get_checksum(file_md5s, dir_md5s)),
+                digest=Digest.dandi_zarr(checksum_zarr_dir(file_info, dir_info)),
                 files=files,
             )
 
diff --git a/dandi/support/digests.py b/dandi/support/digests.py
index ad43c18be..7a69a1629 100644
--- a/dandi/support/digests.py
+++ b/dandi/support/digests.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 from dandischema.digests.dandietag import DandiETag
 from fscacher import PersistentCache
+from zarr_checksum.checksum import ZarrChecksum, ZarrChecksumManifest
 from zarr_checksum.tree import ZarrChecksumTree
 
 from .threaded_walk import threaded_walk
@@ -134,3 +135,31 @@ def md5file_nocache(filepath: str | Path) -> str:
     present in Zarrs
     """
     return Digester(["md5"])(filepath)["md5"]
+
+
+def checksum_zarr_dir(
+    files: dict[str, tuple[str, int]], directories: dict[str, tuple[str, int]]
+) -> str:
+    """
+    Calculate the Zarr checksum of a directory only from information about the
+    files and subdirectories immediately within it.
+
+    :param files:
+        A mapping from names of files in the directory to pairs of their MD5
+        digests and sizes
+    :param directories:
+        A mapping from names of subdirectories in the directory to pairs of
+        their Zarr checksums and the sum of the sizes of all files recursively
+        within them
+    """
+    manifest = ZarrChecksumManifest(
+        files=[
+            ZarrChecksum(digest=digest, name=name, size=size)
+            for name, (digest, size) in files.items()
+        ],
+        directories=[
+            ZarrChecksum(digest=digest, name=name, size=size)
+            for name, (digest, size) in directories.items()
+        ],
+    )
+    return manifest.generate_digest().digest
diff --git a/dandi/support/tests/test_digests.py b/dandi/support/tests/test_digests.py
index d382b6cb7..af37214ea 100644
--- a/dandi/support/tests/test_digests.py
+++ b/dandi/support/tests/test_digests.py
@@ -7,12 +7,15 @@
 #
 # ## ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##
 
+from __future__ import annotations
+
 from pathlib import Path
 
+import pytest
 from pytest_mock import MockerFixture
 
 from .. import digests
-from ..digests import Digester, get_zarr_checksum
+from ..digests import Digester, checksum_zarr_dir, get_zarr_checksum
 
 
 def test_digester(tmp_path):
@@ -101,3 +104,56 @@ def test_get_zarr_checksum(mocker: MockerFixture, tmp_path: Path) -> None:
         == "f77f4c5b277575f781c19ba91422f0c5-8--197"
     )
     spy.assert_called_once_with(sub2 / "file7.txt")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "files,directories,checksum",
+    [
+        ({}, {}, "481a2f77ab786a0f45aafd5db0971caa-0--0"),
+        (
+            {"bar": ("aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", 1)},
+            {},
+            "f21b9b4bf53d7ce1167bcfae76371e59-1--1",
+        ),
+        (
+            {},
+            {"bar": ("aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-1--1", 1)},
+            "ea8b8290b69b96422a3ed1cca0390f21-1--1",
+        ),
+        (
+            {
+                "bar": ("aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", 1),
+                "baz": ("bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb", 2),
+            },
+            {},
+            "4e67de4393d14c1e9c472438f0f1f8b1-2--3",
+        ),
+        (
+            {},
+            {
+                "bar": ("aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-1--1", 1),
+                "baz": ("bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb-1--2", 2),
+            },
+            "859ca1926affe9c7d0424030f26fbd89-2--3",
+        ),
+        (
+            {},
+            {
+                "baz": ("bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb-1--1", 1),
+                "bar": ("aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-1--2", 2),
+            },
+            "8f8361a286c9a7c3fbfd464e33989037-2--3",
+        ),
+        (
+            {"baz": ("aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa", 1)},
+            {"bar": ("bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb-1--2", 2)},
+            "3cb139f47d3a3580388f41956c15f55e-2--3",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_checksum_zarr_dir(
+    files: dict[str, tuple[str, int]],
+    directories: dict[str, tuple[str, int]],
+    checksum: str,
+) -> None:
+    assert checksum_zarr_dir(files=files, directories=directories) == checksum