diff --git a/bin/flutter b/bin/flutter
index cdf974233..1f7de1c1b 100755
--- a/bin/flutter
+++ b/bin/flutter
@@ -185,8 +185,6 @@ fi
 # FLUTTER_TOOL_ARGS="--enable-asserts $FLUTTER_TOOL_ARGS"
 # FLUTTER_TOOL_ARGS="$FLUTTER_TOOL_ARGS --observe=65432"
 
-(upgrade_flutter) 3< "$PROG_NAME"
-
 # FLUTTER_TOOL_ARGS isn't quoted below, because it is meant to be considered as
 # separate space-separated args.
 "$DART" --packages="$FLUTTER_TOOLS_DIR/.packages" $FLUTTER_TOOL_ARGS "$SNAPSHOT_PATH" "$@"
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart
index b3e69714f..a9eb76234 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart
@@ -301,13 +301,6 @@ class FlutterCommandRunner extends CommandRunner<void> {
         }
 
         _checkFlutterCopy();
-        try {
-          await globals.flutterVersion.ensureVersionFile();
-        } on FileSystemException catch (e) {
-          globals.printError('Failed to write the version file to the artifact cache: "$e".');
-          globals.printError('Please ensure you have permissions in the artifact cache directory.');
-          throwToolExit('Failed to write the version file');
-        }
         final bool machineFlag = topLevelResults['machine'] as bool;
         if (topLevelResults.command?.name != 'upgrade' && topLevelResults['version-check'] as bool && !machineFlag) {
           await globals.flutterVersion.checkFlutterVersionFreshness();