If the junction temperature of the device exceeds the thermal shutdown threshold, T_TSD, the device turns off the CAN driver circuitry and blocks the TXD to bus transmission path. The shutdown condition is cleared when the junction temperature of the device drops below T_TSD. The CAN bus pins are biased to V_CC/2 during a TSD fault and the receiver to RXD path remains operational. The device TSD circuit includes hysteresis which prevents the CAN driver output from oscillating during a TSD fault.