diff --git a/freqtrade/configuration/config_validation.py b/freqtrade/configuration/config_validation.py
index 43eead46a..9afa39ca7 100644
--- a/freqtrade/configuration/config_validation.py
+++ b/freqtrade/configuration/config_validation.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import logging
+from copy import deepcopy
 from typing import Any, Dict
 
 from jsonschema import Draft4Validator, validators
@@ -42,15 +43,21 @@ def validate_config_schema(conf: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     :param conf: Config in JSON format
     :return: Returns the config if valid, otherwise throw an exception
     """
+    conf_schema = deepcopy(constants.CONF_SCHEMA)
+    if conf.get('runmode', RunMode.OTHER) in (RunMode.DRY_RUN, RunMode.LIVE):
+        conf_schema['required'] = constants.SCHEMA_TRADE_REQUIRED
+    else:
+        conf_schema['required'] = constants.SCHEMA_MINIMAL_REQUIRED
+
     try:
-        FreqtradeValidator(constants.CONF_SCHEMA).validate(conf)
+        FreqtradeValidator(conf_schema).validate(conf)
         return conf
     except ValidationError as e:
         logger.critical(
             f"Invalid configuration. See config.json.example. Reason: {e}"
         )
         raise ValidationError(
-            best_match(Draft4Validator(constants.CONF_SCHEMA).iter_errors(conf)).message
+            best_match(Draft4Validator(conf_schema).iter_errors(conf)).message
         )
 
 
diff --git a/freqtrade/constants.py b/freqtrade/constants.py
index d7c6249d5..b21279bb4 100644
--- a/freqtrade/constants.py
+++ b/freqtrade/constants.py
@@ -269,16 +269,22 @@ CONF_SCHEMA = {
             'required': ['process_throttle_secs', 'allowed_risk', 'capital_available_percentage']
         }
     },
-    'required': [
-        'exchange',
-        'max_open_trades',
-        'stake_currency',
-        'stake_amount',
-        'dry_run',
-        'dry_run_wallet',
-        'bid_strategy',
-        'unfilledtimeout',
-        'stoploss',
-        'minimal_roi',
-    ]
 }
+
+SCHEMA_TRADE_REQUIRED = [
+    'exchange',
+    'max_open_trades',
+    'stake_currency',
+    'stake_amount',
+    'dry_run',
+    'dry_run_wallet',
+    'bid_strategy',
+    'unfilledtimeout',
+    'stoploss',
+    'minimal_roi',
+]
+
+SCHEMA_MINIMAL_REQUIRED = [
+    'exchange',
+    'dry_run',
+]
diff --git a/tests/test_configuration.py b/tests/test_configuration.py
index ee3d23131..531a88688 100644
--- a/tests/test_configuration.py
+++ b/tests/test_configuration.py
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ def test_load_config_missing_attributes(default_conf) -> None:
 
     conf = deepcopy(default_conf)
     conf.pop('stake_currency')
+    conf['runmode'] = RunMode.DRY_RUN
     with pytest.raises(ValidationError, match=r".*'stake_currency' is a required property.*"):
         validate_config_schema(conf)