diff --git a/src/abstractdataframe/abstractdataframe.jl b/src/abstractdataframe/abstractdataframe.jl
index 41539befe7..6821cbd700 100644
--- a/src/abstractdataframe/abstractdataframe.jl
+++ b/src/abstractdataframe/abstractdataframe.jl
@@ -703,10 +703,23 @@ function get_stats(@nospecialize(col::Union{AbstractVector, Base.SkipMissing}),
     d = Dict{Symbol, Any}()
 
     if :q25 in stats || :median in stats || :q75 in stats
-        q = try quantile(col, [.25, .5, .75]) catch; (nothing, nothing, nothing) end
-        d[:q25] = q[1]
-        d[:median] = q[2]
-        d[:q75] = q[3]
+        # types that do not support basic arithmetic (like strings) will only fail
+        # after sorting the data, so check this beforehand to fail early
+        T = eltype(col)
+        if isconcretetype(T) && !hasmethod(-, Tuple{T, T})
+            d[:q25] = d[:median] = d[:q75] = nothing
+        else
+            mcol = Base.copymutable(col)
+            if :q25 in stats
+                d[:q25] = try quantile!(mcol, 0.25) catch; nothing; end
+            end
+            if :median in stats
+                d[:median] = try quantile!(mcol, 0.50) catch; nothing; end
+            end
+            if :q75 in stats
+                d[:q75] = try quantile!(mcol, 0.75) catch; nothing; end
+            end
+        end
     end
 
     if :min in stats || :max in stats
diff --git a/test/dataframe.jl b/test/dataframe.jl
index a00e432650..e69392710c 100644
--- a/test/dataframe.jl
+++ b/test/dataframe.jl
@@ -668,7 +668,7 @@ end
                                        nothing, nothing, nothing],
                                 min = [1.0, 1.0, "a", "a", Date(2000), 1],
                                 q25 = [1.75, 1.5, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing],
-                                median = [2.5, 2.0, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing],
+                                median = [2.5, 2.0, nothing, nothing, VERSION >= v"1.7.0-beta1.2" ? Date(2002) : nothing, nothing],
                                 q75 = [3.25, 2.5, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing],
                                 max = [4.0, 3.0, "d", "c", Date(2004), 2],
                                 nunique = [nothing, nothing, 4, 3, 4, 2],