Systems and methods for monitoring the temperature of a liquid are disclosed herein. Systems can include a thermistor in contact with a liquid coolant and circuitry configured to measure a temperature of the thermistor by applying a nominal current through the thermistor and detecting a voltage drop across the thermistor. The circuitry may be further configured to apply a current pulse greater than the nominal current through the thermistor, detect a transient thermistor response to the current pulse, and compare the detected transient thermistor response to an expected transient response. The circuitry may be capable of determining if the thermistor is immersed in a fluid or at least partially located within a fluid-free region based on comparing the detected transient thermistor response to the expected transient response.