An overvoltage protection device protects a half bridge circuit that receives a supply voltage. The overvoltage protection device includes a high speed overvoltage detector that receives the supply voltage, detects whether an overvoltage situation is present, and outputs an overvoltage signal that disables the switches of the half bridge circuit before the switches can be damaged by the overvoltage situation. With both the switches of the half-bridge disabled, the entire supply voltage appears across the two switches in series, by which each switch only receives half the entire voltage. Thus, by quickly disabling both switches of the half-bridge each switch only needs a maximum voltage rating equal to half the maximum voltage rating of the half bridge circuit as a whole. This leads to reduced size and cost for the switches of the half-bridge circuit.