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
* @param {ReactReconcileTransaction} transaction
   * @param {ReactElement} prevParentElement
   * @param {ReactElement} nextParentElement
   * @internal
   * @overridable
   */
  updateComponent: function(
    transaction,
    prevParentElement,
    nextParentElement,
    prevUnmaskedContext,
    nextUnmaskedContext,
  ) {
    var inst = this._instance;
    invariant(
      inst != null,
      'Attempted to update component `%s` that has already been unmounted ' +
        '(or failed to mount).',
      this.getName() || 'ReactCompositeComponent',
    );
    var willReceive = false;
    var nextContext;
    
    if (this._context === nextUnmaskedContext) {
      nextContext = inst.context;
    } else {
      nextContext = this._processContext(nextUnmaskedContext);
      willReceive = true;
    }
    var prevProps = prevParentElement.props;