Implantable medical leads include a shield that is guarded at a termination by having a first portion and second portion of the shield, where the first portion is between a termination of the shield at the second portion and an inner insulation layer surrounding the filars. The first portion may reduce the coupling of RF energy from the termination of the shield at the second portion to the filars. The first and second portions may be part of a continuous shield, where the first and second portions are separated by an inversion of the shield. The first and second portions may instead be separate pieces. The first portion may be noninverted residing between the termination at the second portion and inner layers, or the first portion may be inverted to create first and second sub-portions. The shield termination at the second portion is between the first and second sub-portions.