Internal constant current driver for LED short circuits and blows when connected to AC main (120 V) without DC load
Are internal constant current drivers required to be connected to a load (eg. LED COB) before the AC current is switched on?


In this case, apparently yes.


  If this is the case, how would I prevent the driver from short-circuiting in the event that the LED chip dies?


You would need to put some sort of voltage limiter in parallel with the LED. But if the LED dies, this limiter will have to dissipate the same power (actually, slightly more) as the LED itself.

It sounds like the design cuts too many corners in order to cut cost; they've eliminated any sort of proper voltage limit in the switchmode controller. If the load goes open-circuit, the voltage just keeps rising until something inside the driver fails.