A method and apparatus for preventing inadvertent deactivation of an illumination device or other device are provided. The method includes detecting a first input to deactivate an active illumination device; determining whether the first input to deactivate is inadvertent based on context information; and performing a function if the determining determines that the first input to deactivate the active illumination device is inadvertent. The apparatus and method may be used in a vehicle or other apparatus to prevent inadvertent deactivation of devices at inopportune times.