A protection scheme to protect pulse width modulated drives is described. The scheme is implantable in both hardware and software and combinations thereof. The semiconductor devices of the drive are protected from transient signals such as power line spikes and loss of line. The present scheme uses an adaptive technique to determine the normal or steady state distortion (transients and harmonics) value in an unfiltered power signal. The present distortion value is compared to the normal distortion. If the present distortion exceeds the steady state value by a given amount, then the drive is placed in freewheel mode to protect the semiconductor devices in the drive.