A method for controlling a supply of refrigerant to an evaporator of a vapour compression system, such as a refrigeration system, an air condition system or a heat pump. During normal operation, the opening degree of the expansion valve is controlled on the basis of an air temperature, Tair, of air flowing across the evaporator and/or on the basis of superheat of refrigerant leaving the evaporator. If at least one sensor used for obtaining Tair or the superheat is malfunctioning, operation of the vapour compression system is switched to a contingency mode. A reference temperature, Tout, ref, is calculated, based on previously obtained values of a temperature, Tout, of refrigerant leaving the evaporator, during a predefined previous time interval, and subsequently the opening degree of the expansion valve is controlled on the basis of the obtained temperature, Tout, in order to reach the calculated reference temperature, Tout, ref.