diff --git a/freqtrade/optimize/hyperopt.py b/freqtrade/optimize/hyperopt.py
index 086cad5aa..9dfaa8ef3 100644
--- a/freqtrade/optimize/hyperopt.py
+++ b/freqtrade/optimize/hyperopt.py
@@ -41,6 +41,14 @@ class Hyperopt(Backtesting):
     hyperopt.start()
     """
     def __init__(self, config: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
+        if config.get('strategy') and config.get('strategy') != 'DefaultStrategy':
+            logger.error("Please don't use --strategy for hyperopt.")
+            logger.error(
+                "Read the documentation at "
+                "https://github.com/freqtrade/freqtrade/blob/develop/docs/hyperopt.md "
+                "to understand how to configure hyperopt.")
+            raise ValueError("--strategy configured but not supported for hyperopt")
+
         super().__init__(config)
         # set TARGET_TRADES to suit your number concurrent trades so its realistic
         # to the number of days
@@ -152,7 +160,7 @@ class Hyperopt(Backtesting):
     @staticmethod
     def generate_roi_table(params: Dict) -> Dict[int, float]:
         """
-        Generate the ROI table thqt will be used by Hyperopt
+        Generate the ROI table that will be used by Hyperopt
         """
         roi_table = {}
         roi_table[0] = params['roi_p1'] + params['roi_p2'] + params['roi_p3']
diff --git a/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_hyperopt.py b/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_hyperopt.py
index 65a3c2fdb..2035e23df 100644
--- a/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_hyperopt.py
+++ b/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_hyperopt.py
@@ -65,6 +65,31 @@ def test_start(mocker, default_conf, caplog) -> None:
     assert start_mock.call_count == 1
 
 
+def test_start_failure(mocker, default_conf, caplog) -> None:
+    start_mock = MagicMock()
+    mocker.patch(
+        'freqtrade.configuration.Configuration._load_config_file',
+        lambda *args, **kwargs: default_conf
+    )
+    mocker.patch('freqtrade.optimize.hyperopt.Hyperopt.start', start_mock)
+    patch_exchange(mocker)
+
+    args = [
+        '--config', 'config.json',
+        '--strategy', 'TestStrategy',
+        'hyperopt',
+        '--epochs', '5'
+    ]
+    args = get_args(args)
+    StrategyResolver({'strategy': 'DefaultStrategy'})
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        start(args)
+    assert log_has(
+        "Please don't use --strategy for hyperopt.",
+        caplog.record_tuples
+    )
+
+
 def test_loss_calculation_prefer_correct_trade_count(hyperopt) -> None:
     StrategyResolver({'strategy': 'DefaultStrategy'})