Roughly half of the recalled Priuses are in Japan, while 713,000 are in North America and 130,000 are in Europe, according to Brian Lyons, a Toyota spokesman in Tokyo. He said the company was not aware of any accidents linked to the defect. In addition to Japan, the Prius is made in China and Thailand.

Toyota said that problems in software settings on the newest Prius generation — which first went on sale in 2009 — could stress and damage transistors in the hybrid systems. The problems could set off warning lights and prompt the vehicle to power down as part of a fail-safe mode, according to a news release.

“In rare circumstances, the hybrid system might shut down while the vehicle is being driven, resulting in the loss of power and the vehicle coming to a stop,” the release said. Prius owners will need to visit a dealer to fix the error.

Quality problems have continued to haunt Toyota, the world’s best-selling automaker, as it seeks to restore its reputation after the large-scale recalls over reports of unintended acceleration. Late last month, for example, Toyota halted the sale of several popular models, including the Camry and Corolla, over concern that about 30,000 new vehicles were equipped with faulty or malfunctioning heated seats.

The Japanese automaker was hit with hefty fines in the United States and has paid billions of dollars to settle lawsuits over its handling of recalls that affected more than 10 million vehicles in 2009 and 2010.