Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some embodiments drift of a magnetic field of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system is reduced by including a drift compensation coil which accumulates current at a rate proportional to the decay in the primary coil via its electromagnetic mutual inductance to the primary coil. In some embodiments, the drift compensation coil includes reverse turns at an outer radius, to significantly reduce any exacerbation of the fringe field during a quench of the primary coil. In further embodiments, the actively shielded drift compensation coil is complemented with a non-coupling external disturbance shield coil.