diff --git a/airflow/sensors/sql_sensor.py b/airflow/sensors/sql_sensor.py
index de46e6d3db9b8..9a1b11fc50b1a 100644
--- a/airflow/sensors/sql_sensor.py
+++ b/airflow/sensors/sql_sensor.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 
 from builtins import str
 
+from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException
 from airflow.hooks.base_hook import BaseHook
 from airflow.sensors.base_sensor_operator import BaseSensorOperator
 from airflow.utils.decorators import apply_defaults
@@ -33,22 +34,34 @@ class SqlSensor(BaseSensorOperator):
     :type conn_id: str
     :param sql: The sql to run. To pass, it needs to return at least one cell
         that contains a non-zero / empty string value.
+    :type sql: str
+    :param parameters: The parameters to render the SQL query with (optional).
+    :type parameters: mapping or iterable
     """
     template_fields = ('sql',)
     template_ext = ('.hql', '.sql',)
     ui_color = '#7c7287'
 
     @apply_defaults
-    def __init__(self, conn_id, sql, *args, **kwargs):
-        self.sql = sql
+    def __init__(self, conn_id, sql, parameters=None, *args, **kwargs):
         self.conn_id = conn_id
+        self.sql = sql
+        self.parameters = parameters
         super(SqlSensor, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def poke(self, context):
-        hook = BaseHook.get_connection(self.conn_id).get_hook()
+        conn = BaseHook.get_connection(self.conn_id)
+
+        allowed_conn_type = {'google_cloud_platform', 'jdbc', 'mssql',
+                             'mysql', 'oracle', 'postgres',
+                             'presto', 'sqlite', 'vertica'}
+        if conn.conn_type not in allowed_conn_type:
+            raise AirflowException("The connection type is not supported by SqlSensor. " +
+                                   "Supported connection types: {}".format(list(allowed_conn_type)))
+        hook = conn.get_hook()
 
-        self.log.info('Poking: %s', self.sql)
-        records = hook.get_records(self.sql)
+        self.log.info('Poking: %s (with parameters %s)', self.sql, self.parameters)
+        records = hook.get_records(self.sql, self.parameters)
         if not records:
             return False
         else:
diff --git a/tests/sensors/test_sql_sensor.py b/tests/sensors/test_sql_sensor.py
index 81bcdd1691919..0b25d58056eda 100644
--- a/tests/sensors/test_sql_sensor.py
+++ b/tests/sensors/test_sql_sensor.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 
 from airflow import DAG
 from airflow import configuration
+from airflow.exceptions import AirflowException
 from airflow.sensors.sql_sensor import SqlSensor
 from airflow.utils.timezone import datetime
 
@@ -39,27 +40,56 @@ def setUp(self):
         }
         self.dag = DAG(TEST_DAG_ID, default_args=args)
 
+    def test_unsupported_conn_type(self):
+        t = SqlSensor(
+            task_id='sql_sensor_check',
+            conn_id='redis_default',
+            sql="SELECT count(1) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES",
+            dag=self.dag
+        )
+
+        with self.assertRaises(AirflowException):
+            t.run(start_date=DEFAULT_DATE, end_date=DEFAULT_DATE, ignore_ti_state=True)
+
     @unittest.skipUnless(
         'mysql' in configuration.conf.get('core', 'sql_alchemy_conn'), "this is a mysql test")
     def test_sql_sensor_mysql(self):
-        t = SqlSensor(
+        t1 = SqlSensor(
             task_id='sql_sensor_check',
             conn_id='mysql_default',
             sql="SELECT count(1) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES",
             dag=self.dag
         )
-        t.run(start_date=DEFAULT_DATE, end_date=DEFAULT_DATE, ignore_ti_state=True)
+        t1.run(start_date=DEFAULT_DATE, end_date=DEFAULT_DATE, ignore_ti_state=True)
+
+        t2 = SqlSensor(
+            task_id='sql_sensor_check',
+            conn_id='mysql_default',
+            sql="SELECT count(%s) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES",
+            parameters=["table_name"],
+            dag=self.dag
+        )
+        t2.run(start_date=DEFAULT_DATE, end_date=DEFAULT_DATE, ignore_ti_state=True)
 
     @unittest.skipUnless(
         'postgresql' in configuration.conf.get('core', 'sql_alchemy_conn'), "this is a postgres test")
     def test_sql_sensor_postgres(self):
-        t = SqlSensor(
+        t1 = SqlSensor(
             task_id='sql_sensor_check',
             conn_id='postgres_default',
             sql="SELECT count(1) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES",
             dag=self.dag
         )
-        t.run(start_date=DEFAULT_DATE, end_date=DEFAULT_DATE, ignore_ti_state=True)
+        t1.run(start_date=DEFAULT_DATE, end_date=DEFAULT_DATE, ignore_ti_state=True)
+
+        t2 = SqlSensor(
+            task_id='sql_sensor_check',
+            conn_id='postgres_default',
+            sql="SELECT count(%s) FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES",
+            parameters=["table_name"],
+            dag=self.dag
+        )
+        t2.run(start_date=DEFAULT_DATE, end_date=DEFAULT_DATE, ignore_ti_state=True)
 
     @mock.patch('airflow.sensors.sql_sensor.BaseHook')
     def test_sql_sensor_postgres_poke(self, mock_hook):
@@ -69,6 +99,7 @@ def test_sql_sensor_postgres_poke(self, mock_hook):
             sql="SELECT 1",
         )
 
+        mock_hook.get_connection('postgres_default').conn_type = "postgres"
         mock_get_records = mock_hook.get_connection.return_value.get_hook.return_value.get_records
 
         mock_get_records.return_value = []