diff --git a/build/webpack.js b/build/webpack.js
index 3fa51d755b02..ec333e96af94 100644
--- a/build/webpack.js
+++ b/build/webpack.js
@@ -245,6 +245,15 @@ export default async function getBaseWebpackConfig (dir: string, {dev = false, i
       }),
       dev && !isServer && new FriendlyErrorsWebpackPlugin(),
       new webpack.IgnorePlugin(/(precomputed)/, /node_modules.+(elliptic)/),
+      // This removes react-is in production, as it's not used there.
+      !dev && new webpack.IgnorePlugin({
+        checkResource: (resource) => {
+          return /react-is/.test(resource)
+        },
+        checkContext: (context) => {
+          return context.indexOf(path.join(NEXT_PROJECT_ROOT_DIST, 'lib', 'router')) !== -1
+        }
+      }),
       // Even though require.cache is server only we have to clear assets from both compilations
       // This is because the client compilation generates the build manifest that's used on the server side
       dev && new NextJsRequireCacheHotReloader(),
diff --git a/client/index.js b/client/index.js
index 4fb3edcdb6c1..bfaa913b9221 100644
--- a/client/index.js
+++ b/client/index.js
@@ -82,8 +82,11 @@ export default async ({
   try {
     Component = await pageLoader.loadPage(page)
 
-    if (typeof Component !== 'function') {
-      throw new Error(`The default export is not a React Component in page: "${pathname}"`)
+    if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
+      const { isValidElementType } = require('react-is')
+      if (!isValidElementType(Component)) {
+        throw new Error(`The default export is not a React Component in page: "${pathname}"`)
+      }
     }
   } catch (error) {
     // This catches errors like throwing in the top level of a module
diff --git a/lib/router/router.js b/lib/router/router.js
index 61e6a07e7c6f..c30bb8a3d057 100644
--- a/lib/router/router.js
+++ b/lib/router/router.js
@@ -245,8 +245,12 @@ export default class Router {
 
       const { Component } = routeInfo
 
-      if (typeof Component !== 'function') {
-        throw new Error(`The default export is not a React Component in page: "${pathname}"`)
+      if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
+        // This package is ignored for this file using webpack.IgnorePlugin in production
+        const { isValidElementType } = require('react-is')
+        if (!isValidElementType(Component)) {
+          throw new Error(`The default export is not a React Component in page: "${pathname}"`)
+        }
       }
 
       const ctx = { pathname, query, asPath: as }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8dfcff3d8ebe..5d9abded4589 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@
     "prop-types": "15.6.2",
     "prop-types-exact": "1.2.0",
     "react-error-overlay": "4.0.0",
+    "react-is": "16.5.0",
     "recursive-copy": "2.0.6",
     "resolve": "1.5.0",
     "send": "0.16.1",
diff --git a/server/render.js b/server/render.js
index f82a7f65983b..e1acc769228b 100644
--- a/server/render.js
+++ b/server/render.js
@@ -87,8 +87,11 @@ async function doRender (req, res, pathname, query, {
 
   Component = Component.default || Component
 
-  if (typeof Component !== 'function') {
-    throw new Error(`The default export is not a React Component in page: "${pathname}"`)
+  if (process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development') {
+    const { isValidElementType } = require('react-is')
+    if (!isValidElementType(Component)) {
+      throw new Error(`The default export is not a React Component in page: "${pathname}"`)
+    }
   }
 
   App = App.default || App
diff --git a/test/integration/basic/test/error-recovery.js b/test/integration/basic/test/error-recovery.js
index 12a9da06d5a1..85cc776642ab 100644
--- a/test/integration/basic/test/error-recovery.js
+++ b/test/integration/basic/test/error-recovery.js
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ export default (context, render) => {
       expect(text).toBe('This is the about page.')
 
       const aboutPage = new File(join(__dirname, '../', 'pages', 'hmr', 'about.js'))
-      aboutPage.replace('export default', 'export default "not-a-page"\nexport const fn = ')
+      aboutPage.replace('export default', 'export default { not: "a-page" }\nexport const fn = ')
 
       await waitFor(3000)