A temperature protective circuit of the semiconductor integrated circuit unit of the present invention is configured such that the circuit includes a heat generation detecting section for detecting a monitored temperature and a limiting signal producing section for limiting continuously or stepwise the drive of a load (for example, the upper limit of drive current) according to the above-mentioned monitored temperature, after the above-mentioned monitored temperature exceeds a first threshold temperature, based on the detection results of the above-mentioned heat generation detecting section. With such a configuration, an abnormal heat generation of a subject of overheat monitoring can be previously limited to perform a more safely temperature protective operation.