From daa4631f387c1306847e00630d1f6c72ac39a951 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Pieter De Baets <pieterdb@meta.com>
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2026 11:53:31 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Restrict ref helper return types

Summary:
React ref callbacks may return only `void` or a cleanup function. Align shared callback-ref contracts with that behavior so consumers cannot hide incompatible returns behind `unknown`.

Changelog:
[Internal] - Align ref helper types with React's callback contract.

Differential Revision: D115064072
---
 packages/react-native/Libraries/Utilities/useRefEffect.js    | 4 +---
 .../src/private/animated/createAnimatedPropsHook.js          | 5 ++---
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/react-native/Libraries/Utilities/useRefEffect.js b/packages/react-native/Libraries/Utilities/useRefEffect.js
index 8f9ed0b3842d..e1e38a0dd7ac 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/Libraries/Utilities/useRefEffect.js
+++ b/packages/react-native/Libraries/Utilities/useRefEffect.js
@@ -10,8 +10,6 @@
 
 import {useCallback, useRef} from 'react';
 
-type CallbackRef<T> = T => unknown;
-
 /**
  * Constructs a callback ref that provides similar semantics as `useEffect`. The
  * supplied `effect` callback will be called with non-null component instances.
@@ -28,7 +26,7 @@ type CallbackRef<T> = T => unknown;
  */
 export default function useRefEffect<TInstance>(
   effect: TInstance => (() => void) | void,
-): CallbackRef<TInstance | null> {
+): React.RefCallback<TInstance> {
   const cleanupRef = useRef<(() => void) | void>(undefined);
   return useCallback(
     (instance: null | TInstance) => {
diff --git a/packages/react-native/src/private/animated/createAnimatedPropsHook.js b/packages/react-native/src/private/animated/createAnimatedPropsHook.js
index 0e930cdae4a0..b6dcef3bd329 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/src/private/animated/createAnimatedPropsHook.js
+++ b/packages/react-native/src/private/animated/createAnimatedPropsHook.js
@@ -35,11 +35,10 @@ type ReducedProps<TProps> = {
   collapsable: boolean,
   ...
 };
-type CallbackRef<T> = T => unknown;
 
 export type AnimatedPropsHook = <TProps extends {...}, TInstance>(
   props: TProps,
-) => [ReducedProps<TProps>, CallbackRef<TInstance | null>];
+) => [ReducedProps<TProps>, React.RefCallback<TInstance>];
 
 type UpdateCallback = () => void;
 
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ export default function createAnimatedPropsHook(
 
   return function useAnimatedProps<TProps extends {...}, TInstance>(
     props: TProps,
-  ): [ReducedProps<TProps>, CallbackRef<TInstance | null>] {
+  ): [ReducedProps<TProps>, React.RefCallback<TInstance>] {
     const [, scheduleUpdate] = useReducer<number, void>(count => count + 1, 0);
     const onUpdateRef = useRef<UpdateCallback | null>(null);
     const timerRef = useRef<TimeoutID | null>(null);