Xpage with container component reference

While configuring an xpage, I noticed an issue with hst:containercomponentreference component type.  Reproduction path

1. Create an xpage with child hst:containercomponentreference which is configured to a workspace container location, let's name it 'Common Top'
2. From the CM, create a new xpage of this type 
3. Use drag&drop to add a new catalog component inside the placeholder 'Common Top'

The component gets added inside workspace but is not aggregated in PMI. An error is logged:

[CmsComponentWindowResponseAppender.userInRole:204] Component '/hst:myproject/hst:configurations/myproject-preview/hst:workspace/hst:containers/applicationpage/common-top' for XPage '/content/documents/myproject/experience-pages/test' expected to be a descendant of handle but was not the case, return false for user in role

Probably the container should be considered shared but is not detected as such (also from CM editor). 

Improvement point: can the method isUserInRole be refactored? The error thrown by the method doesn't seem to align to the method purpose

There's also a workaround configuration to this. If the  hst:containercomponentreference is configured on a parent page configuration, all works well.