A charge pump circuit is coupled between a positive supply node and a ground node. The charge pump circuit operates in response to clock signals output from a clock generator to produce a negative voltage at a negative voltage output node. A soft-start circuit for the charge pump circuit includes a comparison circuit configured to compare a varying intermediate voltage sensed between a rising supply voltage and the negative voltage to a ramp voltage during a start-up period of the charge pump circuit. The clock generator is selectively enabled to generate the clock signals in response to the comparison to provide for pulse-skipping.