A free-wheeling circuit is disclosed for the rapid reduction of a shutdown overvoltage of an inductive load when the latter is shut down. The free-wheeling circuit includes a switching threshold component by which the free-wheeling circuit becomes active more rapidly compared to a free-wheeling circuit without said switching threshold component, thereby ensuring a more rapid reduction of the shutdown overvoltage. If a control voltage provided by a control voltage source falls below a threshold voltage set by the switching threshold component, a capacitive energy accumulator is immediately discharged and not only when the control voltage is reduced to near zero, and the energy accumulator then activates the free-wheeling circuit for reducing the shutdown overvoltage, when in the nearly discharged state.