diff --git a/freqtrade/configuration.py b/freqtrade/configuration.py
index 5c7da3413..ddcf99c1d 100644
--- a/freqtrade/configuration.py
+++ b/freqtrade/configuration.py
@@ -152,13 +152,16 @@ class Configuration(object):
 
         return config
 
-    def _create_default_datadir(self, config: Dict[str, Any]) -> str:
-        exchange_name = config.get('exchange', {}).get('name').lower()
-        default_path = os.path.join('user_data', 'data', exchange_name)
-        if not os.path.isdir(default_path):
-            os.makedirs(default_path)
-            logger.info(f'Created data directory: {default_path}')
-        return default_path
+    def _create_datadir(self, config: Dict[str, Any], datadir: Optional[str] = None) -> str:
+        if not datadir:
+            # set datadir
+            exchange_name = config.get('exchange', {}).get('name').lower()
+            datadir = os.path.join('user_data', 'data', exchange_name)
+
+        if not os.path.isdir(datadir):
+            os.makedirs(datadir)
+            logger.info(f'Created data directory: {datadir}')
+        return datadir
 
     def _load_backtesting_config(self, config: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         """
@@ -198,9 +201,9 @@ class Configuration(object):
 
         # If --datadir is used we add it to the configuration
         if 'datadir' in self.args and self.args.datadir:
-            config.update({'datadir': self.args.datadir})
+            config.update({'datadir': self._create_datadir(config, self.args.datadir)})
         else:
-            config.update({'datadir': self._create_default_datadir(config)})
+            config.update({'datadir': self._create_datadir(config, None)})
         logger.info('Using data folder: %s ...', config.get('datadir'))
 
         # If -r/--refresh-pairs-cached is used we add it to the configuration
diff --git a/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_backtesting.py b/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_backtesting.py
index 8f7c80523..e09781018 100644
--- a/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_backtesting.py
+++ b/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_backtesting.py
@@ -202,10 +202,11 @@ def test_setup_configuration_without_arguments(mocker, default_conf, caplog) ->
     assert 'export' not in config
 
 
-def test_setup_configuration_with_arguments(mocker, default_conf, caplog) -> None:
+def test_setup_bt_configuration_with_arguments(mocker, default_conf, caplog) -> None:
     mocker.patch('freqtrade.configuration.open', mocker.mock_open(
         read_data=json.dumps(default_conf)
     ))
+    mocker.patch('freqtrade.configuration.Configuration._create_datadir', lambda s, c, x: x)
 
     args = [
         '--config', 'config.json',
diff --git a/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_edge_cli.py b/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_edge_cli.py
index 0d0f64e0c..8ffab7f11 100644
--- a/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_edge_cli.py
+++ b/freqtrade/tests/optimize/test_edge_cli.py
@@ -46,10 +46,11 @@ def test_setup_configuration_without_arguments(mocker, default_conf, caplog) ->
     assert 'stoploss_range' not in config
 
 
-def test_setup_configuration_with_arguments(mocker, edge_conf, caplog) -> None:
+def test_setup_edge_configuration_with_arguments(mocker, edge_conf, caplog) -> None:
     mocker.patch('freqtrade.configuration.open', mocker.mock_open(
         read_data=json.dumps(edge_conf)
     ))
+    mocker.patch('freqtrade.configuration.Configuration._create_datadir', lambda s, c, x: x)
 
     args = [
         '--config', 'config.json',
diff --git a/freqtrade/tests/test_configuration.py b/freqtrade/tests/test_configuration.py
index be381770b..ac322c6fc 100644
--- a/freqtrade/tests/test_configuration.py
+++ b/freqtrade/tests/test_configuration.py
@@ -247,6 +247,7 @@ def test_setup_configuration_with_arguments(mocker, default_conf, caplog) -> Non
     mocker.patch('freqtrade.configuration.open', mocker.mock_open(
         read_data=json.dumps(default_conf)
     ))
+    mocker.patch('freqtrade.configuration.Configuration._create_datadir', lambda s, c, x: x)
 
     arglist = [
         '--config', 'config.json',
@@ -487,3 +488,13 @@ def test_load_config_warn_forcebuy(default_conf, mocker, caplog) -> None:
 
 def test_validate_default_conf(default_conf) -> None:
     validate(default_conf, constants.CONF_SCHEMA, Draft4Validator)
+
+
+def test__create_datadir(mocker, default_conf, caplog) -> None:
+    mocker.patch('os.path.isdir', MagicMock(return_value=False))
+    md = MagicMock()
+    mocker.patch('os.makedirs', md)
+    cfg = Configuration(Namespace())
+    cfg._create_datadir(default_conf, '/foo/bar')
+    assert md.call_args[0][0] == "/foo/bar"
+    assert log_has('Created data directory: /foo/bar', caplog.record_tuples)