diff --git a/src/browser/ui/ReactMount.js b/src/browser/ui/ReactMount.js
index ff0d3e2b40..57a20710ff 100644
--- a/src/browser/ui/ReactMount.js
+++ b/src/browser/ui/ReactMount.js
@@ -459,6 +459,14 @@ var ReactMount = {
       'componentDidUpdate.'
     );
 
+    invariant(
+      container && (
+        container.nodeType === ELEMENT_NODE_TYPE ||
+        container.nodeType === DOC_NODE_TYPE
+      ),
+      'unmountComponentAtNode(...): Target container is not a DOM element.'
+    );
+
     var reactRootID = getReactRootID(container);
     var component = instancesByReactRootID[reactRootID];
     if (!component) {
diff --git a/src/browser/ui/__tests__/ReactMount-test.js b/src/browser/ui/__tests__/ReactMount-test.js
index 79701ec666..b82daaa3a6 100644
--- a/src/browser/ui/__tests__/ReactMount-test.js
+++ b/src/browser/ui/__tests__/ReactMount-test.js
@@ -30,6 +30,18 @@ describe('ReactMount', function() {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('unmountComponentAtNode', function() {
+    it('throws when given a non-node', function() {
+      var nodeArray = document.getElementsByTagName('div');
+      expect(function() {
+        React.unmountComponentAtNode(nodeArray);
+      }).toThrow(
+        'Invariant Violation: unmountComponentAtNode(...): Target container ' +
+        'is not a DOM element.'
+      );
+    });
+  });
+
   it('throws when given a string', function() {
     expect(function() {
       ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument('div');