eslint-plugin-react-hooks@7.1.1 — Inconsistent rule reporting based on memo wrapper syntax

Bug description

eslint-plugin-react-hooks@7.1.1 does not report react-hooks/refs or react-hooks/set-state-in-effect violations when a component function is defined inline inside a memo() call, but it does report those same violations when the function is defined separately and memo is applied on export. The two component definitions are functionally identical.

Rules affected

• react-hooks/refs
• react-hooks/set-state-in-effect

To reproduce

npm install
npm run lint

Expected output

Both files should produce the same lint errors (or neither should), because the runtime behavior is identical. The memo call is an optimization wrapper and should not affect which rules apply to the component body.

Actual output

/src/InlineMemo.jsx
  (no errors)

/src/SeparateMemo.jsx
  16:23  error  Cannot access refs during render          react-hooks/refs
  21:7   error  Avoid calling setState() directly within  react-hooks/set-state-in-effect
                an effect

Files

File	Syntax	Lint result
src/InlineMemo.jsx	const Comp = memo(function Comp() { ... })	No errors (bug — violations are missed)
src/SeparateMemo.jsx	function Comp() { ... } + export default memo(Comp)	2 errors (correct)

Root cause hypothesis

The plugin likely uses pattern matching to identify component boundaries. When a function is defined inside memo(function Comp() {...}), the plugin may not recognize the inner function as a component entry point for the purposes of these rules, causing the analysis to be skipped entirely.

Impact

Teams migrating to eslint-plugin-react-hooks@7.1.1 that use the inline-memo pattern will silently miss rule violations. Additionally, mechanically refactoring from the inline form to the separate form (e.g., to satisfy a react-compiler lint rule or code style preference) will cause new lint errors to appear on code that was previously clean — even though no functional change was made.

Environment

• eslint-plugin-react-hooks: 7.1.1
• eslint: 9.x
• react: 18.x