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 if (this._pendingStateQueue !== null || this._pendingForceUpdate) {
      this.updateComponent(
        transaction,
        this._currentElement,
        this._currentElement,
        this._context,
        this._context,
      );
    } else {
      var callbacks = this._pendingCallbacks;
      this._pendingCallbacks = null;
      if (callbacks) {
        for (var j = 0; j < callbacks.length; j++) {
          transaction
            .getReactMountReady()
            .enqueue(callbacks[j], this.getPublicInstance());
        }
      }
      this._updateBatchNumber = null;
    }
  },
  /**
   * Perform an update to a mounted component. The componentWillReceiveProps and
   * shouldComponentUpdate methods are called, then (assuming the update isn't
   * skipped) the remaining update lifecycle methods are called and the DOM
   * representation is updated.
   *
   * By default, this implements React's rendering and reconciliation algorithm.
   * Sophisticated clients may wish to override this.
   *