A gate driver IC for driving an NMOS transistor having a drain coupled through a load to a power supply. A gate driver output drives the gate of the NMOS transistor. A comparator receives the drain voltage of the NMOS transistor and compares it to a reference voltage representative of a short circuit condition between the drain and the power supply. The comparator outputs a first value if the drain voltage is greater than the reference voltage and outputs a second value if the drain voltage is less than or equal to the reference voltage. Control circuitry receives the output of the first comparator and pulls the voltage of the gate driver output low if the comparator output is of the first value. Adaptive masking circuitry is operable, upon an application of an “on” signal to the gate driver output, to mask the output of the comparator such that a condition of the drain voltage being greater than the reference voltage does not cause the control circuitry to pull the voltage of the gate driver output low. The adaptive masking circuitry detects a Miller plateau in the gate voltage of the external NMOS transistor. The adaptive masking circuitry stops masking the output of the comparator after the end of the Miller plateau.