When creating an Element with a ref from inside of a constructor an error is thrown in production mode, but not in dev mode.

Here is a minimal sample:
https://jsfiddle.net/84v837e9/35/

An error, "Only a ReactOwner can have refs", should happen in dev and production modes.

This is happening in React 15.4
);
    } else {
      this._updateRenderedComponent(transaction, unmaskedContext);
    }
    if (hasComponentDidUpdate) {
      if (__DEV__) {
        transaction.getReactMountReady().enqueue(() => {
          measureLifeCyclePerf(
            inst.componentDidUpdate.bind(inst, prevProps, prevState),
            this._debugID,
            'componentDidUpdate',
          );
        });
      } else {
        transaction
          .getReactMountReady()
          .enqueue(
            inst.componentDidUpdate.bind(inst, prevProps, prevState),
            inst,
          );
      }
    }
  },
  /**
   * Call the component's `render` method and update the DOM accordingly.
   *
   * @param {ReactReconcileTransaction} transaction
   * @internal
   */
  _updateRenderedComponentWithErrorHandling: function(transaction, context) {