A method and apparatus for short circuit detection for batteries. Some embodiments of a method include receiving a battery pack in a system, where the battery pack is rechargeable and includes multiple battery cell blocks, each cell block including one or more battery cells. The voltages of the plurality of cell blocks are monitored. Upon shutting down the system, the voltages of the plurality of cell blocks are logged to generate a set of logged voltage values. Upon restarting the system, the current voltage values of the cell blocks are measured. A determination whether any of the battery cells of the battery pack has developed a short circuit is made based at least in part on a comparison of the current voltage values with the set of the logged voltage values.