diff --git a/lib/signal.cpp b/lib/signal.cpp
index a60e06383..972d69f79 100644
--- a/lib/signal.cpp
+++ b/lib/signal.cpp
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ int signal_data_parse_str(union signal_data *data, const struct signal *sig, con
 			break;
 
 		case SignalType::COMPLEX: {
-			float real, imag;
+			float real, imag = 0;
 
 			real = strtod(ptr, end);
 			if (*end == ptr)
@@ -593,14 +593,22 @@ int signal_data_parse_str(union signal_data *data, const struct signal *sig, con
 
 			ptr = *end;
 
-			imag = strtod(ptr, end);
-			if (*end == ptr)
-				return -1;
+			if (*ptr == 'i' || *ptr == 'j') {
+				imag = real;
+				real = 0;
 
-			if (**end != 'i')
-				return -1;
+				(*end)++;
+			}
+			else if (*ptr == '-' || *ptr == '+') {
+				imag = strtod(ptr, end);
+				if (*end == ptr)
+					return -1;
 
-			(*end)++;
+				if (**end != 'i' && **end != 'j')
+					return -1;
+
+				(*end)++;
+			}
 
 			data->z = std::complex<float>(real, imag);
 			break;
diff --git a/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt
index 2cab31ca5..1a099de33 100644
--- a/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/unit/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,13 +30,14 @@ set(TEST_SRC
 	pool.cpp
 	queue.cpp
 	queue_signalled.cpp
+	signal.cpp
 )
 
 add_executable(unit-tests ${TEST_SRC})
 target_link_libraries(unit-tests PUBLIC
 	PkgConfig::CRITERION
-	villas
 	Threads::Threads
+	villas
 )
 
 add_custom_target(run-unit-tests
diff --git a/tests/unit/signal.cpp b/tests/unit/signal.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1bf3a51a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/signal.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/** Unit tests for memory management
+ *
+ * @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2014-2019, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ * @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+ *
+ * VILLASnode
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+#include <criterion/criterion.h>
+
+#include <villas/signal.h>
+
+extern void init_memory();
+
+Test(signal, parse, .init = init_memory) {
+	int ret;
+	struct signal sig;
+	union signal_data sd;
+	const char *str;
+	char *end;
+
+
+	str = "1";
+	sig.type = SignalType::INTEGER;
+	
+	ret = signal_data_parse_str(&sd, &sig, str, &end);
+	cr_assert_eq(ret, 0);
+	cr_assert_eq(end, str + strlen(str));
+	cr_assert_eq(sd.i, 1);
+
+	str = "1.2";
+	sig.type = SignalType::FLOAT;
+	
+	ret = signal_data_parse_str(&sd, &sig, str, &end);
+	cr_assert_eq(ret, 0);
+	cr_assert_eq(end, str + strlen(str));
+	cr_assert_float_eq(sd.f, 1.2, 1e-6);
+
+	str = "1";
+	sig.type = SignalType::BOOLEAN;
+	
+	ret = signal_data_parse_str(&sd, &sig, str, &end);
+	cr_assert_eq(ret, 0);
+	cr_assert_eq(end, str + strlen(str));
+	cr_assert_eq(sd.b, 1);
+
+	str = "1";
+	sig.type = SignalType::COMPLEX;
+	
+	ret = signal_data_parse_str(&sd, &sig, str, &end);
+	cr_assert_eq(ret, 0);
+	cr_assert_eq(end, str + strlen(str));
+	cr_assert_float_eq(std::real(sd.z), 1, 1e-6);
+	cr_assert_float_eq(std::imag(sd.z), 0, 1e-6);
+
+	str = "-1-3i";
+	sig.type = SignalType::COMPLEX;
+	
+	ret = signal_data_parse_str(&sd, &sig, str, &end);
+	cr_assert_eq(ret, 0);
+	cr_assert_eq(end, str + strlen(str));
+	cr_assert_float_eq(std::real(sd.z), -1, 1e-6);
+	cr_assert_float_eq(std::imag(sd.z), -3, 1e-6);
+
+	str = "-3i";
+	sig.type = SignalType::COMPLEX;
+	
+	ret = signal_data_parse_str(&sd, &sig, str, &end);
+	cr_assert_eq(ret, 0);
+	cr_assert_eq(end, str + strlen(str));
+	cr_assert_float_eq(std::real(sd.z), 0, 1e-6);
+	cr_assert_float_eq(std::imag(sd.z), -3, 1e-6);
+}