diff --git a/freqtrade/commands/deploy_commands.py b/freqtrade/commands/deploy_commands.py
index b9bda9c63..8a8d2373e 100644
--- a/freqtrade/commands/deploy_commands.py
+++ b/freqtrade/commands/deploy_commands.py
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ def clean_ui_subdir(directory: Path):
         logger.info("Removing UI directory content.")
 
         for p in reversed(list(directory.glob('**/*'))):  # iterate contents from leaves to root
-            if p.name == '.gitkeep':
+            if p.name in ('.gitkeep', 'fallback_file.html'):
                 continue
             if p.is_file():
                 p.unlink()
diff --git a/freqtrade/rpc/api_server/ui/fallback_file.html b/freqtrade/rpc/api_server/ui/fallback_file.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7943530af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/freqtrade/rpc/api_server/ui/fallback_file.html
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+  <meta charset="UTF-8">
+  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
+  <title>Freqtrade UI</title>
+  <style>
+    body {
+      background-color: #3c3c3c;
+      color: #dedede;
+      text-align: center;
+    }
+    .main-container {
+      display: flex;
+      align-items: center;
+      justify-content: center;
+      flex-direction: column;
+    }
+    h1 {
+      margin-top: 10rem;
+    }
+  </style>
+</head>
+<body>
+  <div class="main-container">
+    <h1>Freqtrade UI not installed.</h1>
+    <p>Please run `freqtrade install-ui` in your terminal to install the UI files and restart your bot.</p>
+    <p>You can then refresh this page and you should see the UI.</p>
+  </div>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/freqtrade/rpc/api_server/web_ui.py b/freqtrade/rpc/api_server/web_ui.py
index 971f9e4de..6d397da56 100644
--- a/freqtrade/rpc/api_server/web_ui.py
+++ b/freqtrade/rpc/api_server/web_ui.py
@@ -24,5 +24,8 @@ async def index_html(rest_of_path: str):
     if (uibase / rest_of_path).is_file():
         return FileResponse(uibase / rest_of_path)
 
+    index_file = uibase / 'index.html'
+    if not index_file.is_file():
+        return FileResponse(uibase / 'fallback_file.html')
     # Fall back to index.html, as indicated by vue router docs
-    return FileResponse(uibase / 'index.html')
+    return FileResponse(index_file)
