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
: partial;
      if (partialState) {
        if (dontMutate) {
          dontMutate = false;
          nextState = Object.assign({}, nextState, partialState);
        } else {
          Object.assign(nextState, partialState);
        }
      }
    }
    return nextState;
  },
  /**
   * Merges new props and state, notifies delegate methods of update and
   * performs update.
   *
   * @param {ReactElement} nextElement Next element
   * @param {object} nextProps Next public object to set as properties.
   * @param {?object} nextState Next object to set as state.
   * @param {?object} nextContext Next public object to set as context.
   * @param {ReactReconcileTransaction} transaction
   * @param {?object} unmaskedContext
   * @private
   */
  _performComponentUpdate: function(
    nextElement,
    nextProps,
    nextState,
    nextContext,
    transaction,