The invention relates to a method for operating an electronically commutated synchronous machine, which comprises a stator having at least two, in particular three, phase windings and a rotor having at least one permanent magnet, wherein a control factor is determined periodically for each individual phase winding, and the time periods during which an upper and a lower supply voltage is applied to said phase winding via switches of an actuation circuit which are assigned to the phase winding are determined on the basis of said control factor. In accordance with the invention, the electronically commutated synchronous machine is actuated according to a method for space vector modulation, in which zero vectors are applied to the phase windings at the beginning and/or at the end of a period for a switch-off duration, wherein in each case either all of the switches connected to the upper supply voltage or all of the switches connected to the lower supply voltage are on, and wherein the selection of the zero vector, i.e. whether the conductive connection to the upper or the lower supply voltage is produced, is performed in accordance with the phase winding with the greatest, in magnitude, deviation from the average control factor, which expediently corresponds to the average of the upper supply voltage and the lower supply voltage. In addition, the invention relates to an actuation circuit and the use thereof.