A torque system includes a DC power device, a polyphase electric machine, a contactor pair, a power inverter module (PIM), and a controller. The PIM connects to the power device via the contactor pair and directly connects to the electric machine. The controller executes a method to control a fault response under a fault condition resulting in opening of the contactor pair and a polyphase short condition. The controller calculates a back EMF of the electric machine and transmits switching control signals to semiconductor switches of the PIM to transition from the polyphase short condition to a polyphase open condition only when the calculated back EMF is less than a calibrated value and a voltage rise on a DC side of the PIM is less than a calibrated voltage rise. A vehicle includes the DC power device, road wheels, electric machine, PIM, and controller.