diff --git a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm
index 3f98ecf7902573fd08fc809348f1b51f36ca809e..f311a0454f0b27ceec4168a629785333fbb56425 100644
--- a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm
+++ b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/Feature.pm
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ sub new {
 
   if(defined($start) && defined($end)) {
       if (($start =~ /\d+/) && ($end =~ /\d+/)) {
-	  if($end+1 < $start) {
+	  if($end+1 < $start and !$slice->is_circular()) {
 	      throw(sprintf('Start (%d) must be less than or equal to end+1 (%d)', $start, ($end+1)));
 	  }
       } else {