A reverse polarity protected system comprises a voltage source that includes positive and negative terminals. A polarity-sensitive device has a first terminal that communicates with the positive terminal of the voltage source, and that includes a second terminal. A low-resistance switch communicates with the first and second terminals of the voltage source, and communicates with the second terminal of the polarity-sensitive device. The low-resistance switch assumes a conducting state between the second terminal of the polarity-sensitive device and the negative terminal of the voltage source when a first voltage at the positive terminal of the voltage source minus a second voltage at the negative terminal of the voltage source is greater than a threshold voltage. Otherwise, the low-resistance switch assumes a non-conducting state.