diff --git a/freqtrade/strategy/interface.py b/freqtrade/strategy/interface.py
index f10a12fa9..6f3e047eb 100644
--- a/freqtrade/strategy/interface.py
+++ b/freqtrade/strategy/interface.py
@@ -483,8 +483,6 @@ class IStrategy(ABC, HyperStrategyMixin):
             message = "No dataframe returned (return statement missing?)."
         elif 'buy' not in dataframe:
             message = "Buy column not set."
-        elif 'sell' not in dataframe:
-            message = "Sell column not set."
         elif df_len != len(dataframe):
             message = message_template.format("length")
         elif df_close != dataframe["close"].iloc[-1]:
@@ -531,7 +529,11 @@ class IStrategy(ABC, HyperStrategyMixin):
             return False, False, None
 
         buy = latest[SignalType.BUY.value] == 1
-        sell = latest[SignalType.SELL.value] == 1
+
+        sell = False
+        if SignalType.SELL.value in latest:
+            sell = latest[SignalType.SELL.value] == 1
+
         buy_tag = latest.get(SignalTagType.BUY_TAG.value, None)
 
         logger.debug('trigger: %s (pair=%s) buy=%s sell=%s',
diff --git a/tests/strategy/test_interface.py b/tests/strategy/test_interface.py
index 751f08344..d8c87506c 100644
--- a/tests/strategy/test_interface.py
+++ b/tests/strategy/test_interface.py
@@ -126,6 +126,27 @@ def test_get_signal_old_dataframe(default_conf, mocker, caplog, ohlcv_history):
     assert log_has('Outdated history for pair xyz. Last tick is 16 minutes old', caplog)
 
 
+def test_get_signal_no_sell_column(default_conf, mocker, caplog, ohlcv_history):
+    # default_conf defines a 5m interval. we check interval * 2 + 5m
+    # this is necessary as the last candle is removed (partial candles) by default
+    ohlcv_history.loc[1, 'date'] = arrow.utcnow()
+    # Take a copy to correctly modify the call
+    mocked_history = ohlcv_history.copy()
+    # Intentionally don't set sell column
+    # mocked_history['sell'] = 0
+    mocked_history['buy'] = 0
+    mocked_history.loc[1, 'buy'] = 1
+
+    caplog.set_level(logging.INFO)
+    mocker.patch.object(_STRATEGY, 'assert_df')
+
+    assert (True, False, None) == _STRATEGY.get_signal(
+        'xyz',
+        default_conf['timeframe'],
+        mocked_history
+    )
+
+
 def test_ignore_expired_candle(default_conf):
     default_conf.update({'strategy': 'DefaultStrategy'})
     strategy = StrategyResolver.load_strategy(default_conf)
@@ -197,10 +218,6 @@ def test_assert_df(ohlcv_history, caplog):
                        match="Buy column not set"):
         _STRATEGY.assert_df(ohlcv_history.drop('buy', axis=1), len(ohlcv_history),
                             ohlcv_history.loc[df_len, 'close'], ohlcv_history.loc[0, 'date'])
-    with pytest.raises(StrategyError,
-                       match="Sell column not set"):
-        _STRATEGY.assert_df(ohlcv_history.drop('sell', axis=1), len(ohlcv_history),
-                            ohlcv_history.loc[df_len, 'close'], ohlcv_history.loc[0, 'date'])
 
     _STRATEGY.disable_dataframe_checks = True
     caplog.clear()