diff --git a/freqtrade/main.py b/freqtrade/main.py
index 0a2adf71a..7afaeb1a2 100755
--- a/freqtrade/main.py
+++ b/freqtrade/main.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ def main(sysargv: List[str] = None) -> None:
     """
 
     return_code: Any = 1
-    worker = None
     try:
         arguments = Arguments(sysargv)
         args = arguments.get_parsed_arg()
@@ -57,8 +56,6 @@ def main(sysargv: List[str] = None) -> None:
     except Exception:
         logger.exception('Fatal exception!')
     finally:
-        if worker:
-            worker.exit()
         sys.exit(return_code)
 
 
diff --git a/freqtrade/utils.py b/freqtrade/utils.py
index 5ad134ef9..b8ab7504e 100644
--- a/freqtrade/utils.py
+++ b/freqtrade/utils.py
@@ -45,8 +45,16 @@ def start_trading(args: Dict[str, Any]) -> int:
     """
     from freqtrade.worker import Worker
     # Load and run worker
-    worker = Worker(args)
-    worker.run()
+    worker = None
+    try:
+        worker = Worker(args)
+        worker.run()
+    except KeyboardInterrupt:
+        logger.info('SIGINT received, aborting ...')
+    finally:
+        if worker:
+            logger.info("worker found ... calling exit")
+            worker.exit()
     return 0
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index 3dba7df1b..bbb4fc648 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ from freqtrade import OperationalException
 from freqtrade.state import RunMode
 from freqtrade.utils import (setup_utils_configuration, start_create_userdir,
                              start_download_data, start_list_exchanges,
-                             start_list_markets, start_list_timeframes)
+                             start_list_markets, start_list_timeframes,
+                             start_trading)
 from tests.conftest import get_args, log_has, patch_exchange
 
 
@@ -24,6 +25,29 @@ def test_setup_utils_configuration():
     assert config['exchange']['secret'] == ''
 
 
+def test_start_trading_fail(mocker):
+
+    mocker.patch("freqtrade.worker.Worker.run", MagicMock(side_effect=OperationalException))
+
+    mocker.patch("freqtrade.worker.Worker.__init__", MagicMock(return_value=None))
+
+    exitmock = mocker.patch("freqtrade.worker.Worker.exit", MagicMock())
+    args = [
+        'trade',
+        '-c', 'config.json.example'
+    ]
+    with pytest.raises(OperationalException):
+        start_trading(get_args(args))
+    assert exitmock.call_count == 1
+
+    exitmock.reset_mock()
+
+    mocker.patch("freqtrade.worker.Worker.__init__", MagicMock(side_effect=OperationalException))
+    with pytest.raises(OperationalException):
+        start_trading(get_args(args))
+    assert exitmock.call_count == 0
+
+
 def test_list_exchanges(capsys):
 
     args = [