diff --git a/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberHooks.js b/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberHooks.js
index 29c83c7d7263..ca1500ab42aa 100644
--- a/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberHooks.js
+++ b/packages/react-reconciler/src/ReactFiberHooks.js
@@ -2917,6 +2917,15 @@ function mountMemo<T>(
   nextCreate: () => T,
   deps: Array<mixed> | void | null,
 ): T {
+  if (__DEV__) {
+    if (typeof nextCreate !== 'function') {
+      console.error(
+        'Expected useMemo() first argument to be a function that returns a value. ' +
+          'Instead received: %s.',
+        nextCreate !== null ? typeof nextCreate : 'null',
+      );
+    }
+  }
   const hook = mountWorkInProgressHook();
   const nextDeps = deps === undefined ? null : deps;
   const nextValue = nextCreate();
@@ -2936,6 +2945,15 @@ function updateMemo<T>(
   nextCreate: () => T,
   deps: Array<mixed> | void | null,
 ): T {
+  if (__DEV__) {
+    if (typeof nextCreate !== 'function') {
+      console.error(
+        'Expected useMemo() first argument to be a function that returns a value. ' +
+          'Instead received: %s.',
+        nextCreate !== null ? typeof nextCreate : 'null',
+      );
+    }
+  }
   const hook = updateWorkInProgressHook();
   const nextDeps = deps === undefined ? null : deps;
   const prevState = hook.memoizedState;
diff --git a/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactHooks-test.internal.js b/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactHooks-test.internal.js
index e61e4a825602..2f8019375814 100644
--- a/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactHooks-test.internal.js
+++ b/packages/react-reconciler/src/__tests__/ReactHooks-test.internal.js
@@ -858,6 +858,33 @@ describe('ReactHooks', () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  // https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/16589
+  it('warns when useMemo is called with a non-function first argument', async () => {
+    const {useMemo} = React;
+    function App() {
+      // $FlowExpectedError[incompatible-call] Testing runtime behaviour.
+      useMemo({value: 1}, []);
+      return null;
+    }
+    App.displayName = 'App';
+
+    await expect(async () => {
+      await act(() => {
+        ReactTestRenderer.create(<App />, {unstable_isConcurrent: true});
+      });
+    }).rejects.toThrow('nextCreate is not a function');
+    // The warning fires twice because concurrent mode retries the render
+    // after the TypeError thrown when `nextCreate` is invoked.
+    assertConsoleErrorDev([
+      'Expected useMemo() first argument to be a function that returns a value. ' +
+        'Instead received: object.\n' +
+        '    in App (at **)',
+      'Expected useMemo() first argument to be a function that returns a value. ' +
+        'Instead received: object.\n' +
+        '    in App (at **)',
+    ]);
+  });
+
   // https://github.com/facebook/react/issues/14022
   it('works with ReactDOMServer calls inside a component', async () => {
     const {useState} = React;