diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command.dart
index e4e474ab6e..5548599802 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command.dart
@@ -1693,7 +1693,7 @@ Run 'flutter -h' (or 'flutter <command> -h') for available flutter commands and
 
     // Populate the cache. We call this before pub get below so that the
     // sky_engine package is available in the flutter cache for pub to find.
-    if (shouldUpdateCache) {
+    if (false) {
       // First always update universal artifacts, as some of these (e.g.
       // ios-deploy on macOS) are required to determine `requiredArtifacts`.
       final bool offline;
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 a1104da..1749d65 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/runner/flutter_command_runner.dart
@@ -437,11 +437,6 @@
         // Required to support `flutter --version` before artifacts are cached.
         await globals.cache.updateAll(<DevelopmentArtifact>{DevelopmentArtifact.informative});
 
-        globals.flutterVersion.ensureVersionFile();
-        if (await _shouldCheckForUpdates(topLevelResults)) {
-          await globals.flutterVersion.checkFlutterVersionFreshness();
-        }
-
         // See if the user specified a specific device.
         final specifiedDeviceId = topLevelResults[FlutterGlobalOptions.kDeviceIdOption] as String?;
         if (specifiedDeviceId != null) {