Inference failure in method reference not suppressed by default

[wmdietlGC]

The following code:

import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;
import java.util.function.BiFunction;
import java.util.function.Function;
import java.util.stream.Collector;
import java.util.Map;

class Demo {
  static <T, R, A> void use(@Nullable Collector<? super T, A, R> collector) { }

  static <T, K, V> @Nullable Collector<T, ?, Map<K,V>> calc(Function<? super T, ? extends K> keyFunction,
    Function<? super T, ? extends V> valueFunction,
    BiFunction<V, V, V> mergeFunction) { return null; }

  void foo(Function<Long, Float> f) {
    // No error when using a lambda
    use(calc(f, f, (a, b) -> Math.max(a, b)));
    // Error when using a method reference
    use(calc(f, f, Math::max));
  }
}

gives the following errors with the Nullness Checker:

Demo.java:18: error: [methodref.param.invalid] Incompatible parameter type for a
    use(calc(f, f, Math::max));
                   ^
  Method
    @Initialized @NonNull float max(@Initialized @NonNull float p0, @Initialized @NonNull float p1) in java.lang.Math
  is not a valid method reference for
    /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object apply(@Initialized @NonNull BiFunction</*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object> this, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object p0, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object p1) in java.util.function.BiFunction
  found   : @Initialized @NonNull float
  required: /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object
Demo.java:18: error: [methodref.param.invalid] Incompatible parameter type for b
    use(calc(f, f, Math::max));
                   ^
  Method
    @Initialized @NonNull float max(@Initialized @NonNull float p0, @Initialized @NonNull float p1) in java.lang.Math
  is not a valid method reference for
    /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object apply(@Initialized @NonNull BiFunction</*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object> this, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object p0, /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object p1) in java.util.function.BiFunction
  found   : @Initialized @NonNull float
  required: /*INFERENCE FAILED for:*/ ? extends @Initialized @Nullable Object
2 errors

Note how the equivalent, but more verbose, lambda expression works without errors.

I would have expected these errors to be suppressed by default, because the types contain INFERENCE FAILED. Maybe that suppression is implemented for lambdas but not for method references?
Maybe this can be fixed independently of the larger fix for #979?

Originally posted by @wmdietlGC in #979 (comment)

[smillst]

This test cases passes not.