diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 78495cc6a252a..bc1a13c6a48fd 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/mattn/go-sqlite3 v1.14.12
 	github.com/mholt/archiver/v3 v3.5.1
 	github.com/microcosm-cc/bluemonday v1.0.19
+	github.com/mikesmitty/edkey v0.0.0-20170222072505-3356ea4e686a
 	github.com/minio/minio-go/v7 v7.0.26
 	github.com/msteinert/pam v1.0.0
 	github.com/nfnt/resize v0.0.0-20180221191011-83c6a9932646
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index dca68d9a8e7d8..ea10bffbbda4b 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1163,6 +1163,8 @@ github.com/miekg/dns v1.1.48 h1:Ucfr7IIVyMBz4lRE8qmGUuZ4Wt3/ZGu9hmcMT3Uu4tQ=
 github.com/miekg/dns v1.1.48/go.mod h1:e3IlAVfNqAllflbibAZEWOXOQ+Ynzk/dDozDxY7XnME=
 github.com/miekg/pkcs11 v1.0.2/go.mod h1:XsNlhZGX73bx86s2hdc/FuaLm2CPZJemRLMA+WTFxgs=
 github.com/miekg/pkcs11 v1.0.3/go.mod h1:XsNlhZGX73bx86s2hdc/FuaLm2CPZJemRLMA+WTFxgs=
+github.com/mikesmitty/edkey v0.0.0-20170222072505-3356ea4e686a h1:eU8j/ClY2Ty3qdHnn0TyW3ivFoPC/0F1gQZz8yTxbbE=
+github.com/mikesmitty/edkey v0.0.0-20170222072505-3356ea4e686a/go.mod h1:v8eSC2SMp9/7FTKUncp7fH9IwPfw+ysMObcEz5FWheQ=
 github.com/minio/md5-simd v1.1.2 h1:Gdi1DZK69+ZVMoNHRXJyNcxrMA4dSxoYHZSQbirFg34=
 github.com/minio/md5-simd v1.1.2/go.mod h1:MzdKDxYpY2BT9XQFocsiZf/NKVtR7nkE4RoEpN+20RM=
 github.com/minio/minio-go/v7 v7.0.26 h1:D0HK+8793etZfRY/vHhDmFaP+vmT41K3K4JV9vmZCBQ=
diff --git a/modules/ssh/ssh.go b/modules/ssh/ssh.go
index 2affeb781a998..c8698f4c092ef 100644
--- a/modules/ssh/ssh.go
+++ b/modules/ssh/ssh.go
@@ -7,10 +7,6 @@ package ssh
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
-	"crypto/rand"
-	"crypto/rsa"
-	"crypto/x509"
-	"encoding/pem"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net"
@@ -328,47 +324,3 @@ func Listen(host string, port int, ciphers, keyExchanges, macs []string) {
 		listen(&srv)
 	}()
 }
-
-// GenKeyPair make a pair of public and private keys for SSH access.
-// Public key is encoded in the format for inclusion in an OpenSSH authorized_keys file.
-// Private Key generated is PEM encoded
-func GenKeyPair(keyPath string) error {
-	privateKey, err := rsa.GenerateKey(rand.Reader, 4096)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	privateKeyPEM := &pem.Block{Type: "RSA PRIVATE KEY", Bytes: x509.MarshalPKCS1PrivateKey(privateKey)}
-	f, err := os.OpenFile(keyPath, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0o600)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	defer func() {
-		if err = f.Close(); err != nil {
-			log.Error("Close: %v", err)
-		}
-	}()
-
-	if err := pem.Encode(f, privateKeyPEM); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	// generate public key
-	pub, err := gossh.NewPublicKey(&privateKey.PublicKey)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	public := gossh.MarshalAuthorizedKey(pub)
-	p, err := os.OpenFile(keyPath+".pub", os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0o600)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	defer func() {
-		if err = p.Close(); err != nil {
-			log.Error("Close: %v", err)
-		}
-	}()
-	_, err = p.Write(public)
-	return err
-}
diff --git a/modules/ssh/testhelper.go b/modules/ssh/testhelper.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9af23513fe82f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/ssh/testhelper.go
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+// Copyright 2022 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a MIT-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package ssh
+
+import (
+	"crypto/ed25519"
+	"crypto/rand"
+	"encoding/pem"
+	"os"
+
+	"code.gitea.io/gitea/modules/log"
+
+	"github.com/mikesmitty/edkey"
+	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh"
+)
+
+// GenKeyPair make a pair of public and private keys for SSH access.
+// Public key is encoded in the format for inclusion in an OpenSSH authorized_keys file.
+// Private Key generated is PEM encoded
+func GenKeyPair(keyPath string) error {
+	publicKey, privateKey, err := genKeyPair()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	privKeyFile, err := os.OpenFile(keyPath, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0o600)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		if err = privKeyFile.Close(); err != nil {
+			log.Error("Close: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+	if _, err := privKeyFile.Write(privateKey); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	pubKeyFile, err := os.OpenFile(keyPath+".pub", os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_TRUNC, 0o600)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer func() {
+		if err = pubKeyFile.Close(); err != nil {
+			log.Error("Close: %v", err)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	_, err = pubKeyFile.Write(publicKey)
+	return err
+}
+
+func genKeyPair() (publicK, privateK []byte, err error) {
+	publicKey, privateKey, err := ed25519.GenerateKey(rand.Reader)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	// generate private key
+	privateK = pem.EncodeToMemory(&pem.Block{
+		Type:  "OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY",
+		Bytes: edkey.MarshalED25519PrivateKey(privateKey),
+	})
+
+	// generate public key
+	pub, err := ssh.NewPublicKey(publicKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+
+	publicK = ssh.MarshalAuthorizedKey(pub)
+
+	return privateK, publicK, nil
+}