When the component is loaded with a smile variable that is asynchronously set:
<Jsme height='800px' width='100%' smiles={smile_draft} ></Jsme>
A race condition between componentDidUpdate and handleJsmeLoad occurs:

Usually Jsme is loaded after update. The if check does not work as this.jsmeApplet === undefined and not this.jsmeApplet === null
Fixed in my pull request.