diff --git a/freqtrade/exchange/exchange.py b/freqtrade/exchange/exchange.py
index 5771682b5..f483f2842 100644
--- a/freqtrade/exchange/exchange.py
+++ b/freqtrade/exchange/exchange.py
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ class Exchange:
     def close(self):
         logger.debug("Exchange object destroyed, closing async loop")
         if (
-            self._api_async
+            getattr(self, "_api_async", None)
             and inspect.iscoroutinefunction(self._api_async.close)
             and self._api_async.session
         ):