Code change:
}); <ins> var ShallowMixin = assign({}, ReactCompositeComponentMixin, { /** * Initializes the component, renders markup, and registers event listeners. * * @param {string} rootID DOM ID of the root node. * @param {ReactReconcileTransaction|ReactServerRenderingTransaction} transaction * @param {number} mountDepth number of components in the owner hierarchy * @return {ReactElement} Shallow rendering of the component. * @final * @internal */ mountComponent: function(rootID, transaction, mountDepth) { ReactComponent.Mixin.mountComponent.call( this, rootID, transaction, mountDepth ); var inst = this._instance; // Store a reference from the instance back to the internal representation ReactInstanceMap.set(inst, this); this._compositeLifeCycleState = CompositeLifeCycle.MOUNTING; // No context for shallow-mounted components. inst.props = this._processProps(this._currentElement.props); var initialState = inst.getInitialState ? inst.getInitialState() : null; if (__DEV__) { // We allow auto-mocks to proceed as if they're returning null. if (typeof initialState === 'undefined' && inst.getInitialState._isMockFunction) { // This is probably bad practice. Consider warning here and // deprecating this convenience. initialState = null; } } invariant( typeof initialState === 'object' && !Array.isArray(initialState), '%s.getInitialState(): must return an object or null', inst.constructor.displayName || 'ReactCompositeComponent' ); inst.state = initialState; this._pendingState = null; this._pendingForceUpdate = false; if (inst.componentWillMount) { inst.componentWillMount(); // When mounting, calls to `setState` by `componentWillMount` will set // `this._pendingState` without triggering a re-render. if (this._pendingState) { inst.state = this._pendingState; this._pendingState = null; } } // No recursive call to instantiateReactComponent for shallow rendering. this._renderedComponent = this._renderValidatedComponentWithoutOwnerOrContext(); // Done with mounting, `setState` will now trigger UI changes. this._compositeLifeCycleState = null; // No call to this._renderedComponent.mountComponent for shallow // rendering. if (inst.componentDidMount) { transaction.getReactMountReady().enqueue(inst.componentDidMount, inst); } return this._renderedComponent; }, /** * Call the component's `render` method and update the DOM accordingly. * * @param {ReactReconcileTransaction} transaction * @internal */ _updateRenderedComponent: function(transaction) { var prevComponentInstance = this._renderedComponent; var prevRenderedElement = prevComponentInstance._currentElement; // Use the without-owner-or-context variant of _rVC below: var nextRenderedElement = this._renderValidatedComponentWithoutOwnerOrContext(); if (shouldUpdateReactComponent(prevRenderedElement, nextRenderedElement)) { prevComponentInstance.receiveComponent( nextRenderedElement, transaction ); } else { // These two IDs are actually the same! But nothing should rely on that. var thisID = this._rootNodeID; var prevComponentID = prevComponentInstance._rootNodeID; // Don't unmount previous instance since it was never mounted, due to // shallow render. //prevComponentInstance.unmountComponent(); this._renderedComponent = nextRenderedElement; // ^ no instantiateReactComponent // // no recursive mountComponent return nextRenderedElement; } } }); </ins> var ReactCompositeComponent = { LifeCycle: CompositeLifeCycle, <del> Mixin: ReactCompositeComponentMixin </del> <ins> Mixin: ReactCompositeComponentMixin, ShallowMixin: ShallowMixin </ins> };

Related discussion:
text: If there are specific features you miss in the shallow renderer please create new issues with proposals on how they should work. Note that we a new that is much more feature-complete.