diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/create.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/create.dart
index 6e2dcb0131..0ec3a14a5b 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/create.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/create.dart
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import 'dart:async';
 
 import 'package:linter/src/rules/pub/package_names.dart' as package_names; // ignore: implementation_imports
+import 'package:linter/src/utils.dart' as linter_utils; // ignore: implementation_imports
 
 import '../android/android.dart' as android;
 import '../android/android_sdk.dart' as android_sdk;
@@ -362,7 +363,7 @@ final Set<String> _packageDependencies = new Set<String>.from(<String>[
 /// Return null if the project name is legal. Return a validation message if
 /// we should disallow the project name.
 String _validateProjectName(String projectName) {
-  if (!package_names.isValidPackageName(projectName))
+  if (!linter_utils.isValidPackageName(projectName))
     return '"$projectName" is not a valid Dart package name.\n\n${package_names.details}';
 
   if (_packageDependencies.contains(projectName)) {
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/update_packages.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/update_packages.dart
index 84d96a73a5..f0e13ec2ee 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/update_packages.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/update_packages.dart
@@ -16,8 +16,16 @@ import '../dart/pub.dart';
 import '../globals.dart';
 import '../runner/flutter_command.dart';
 
+/// Map from package name to package version, used to artificially pin a pub
+/// package version in cases when upgrading to the latest breaks Flutter.
+///
+/// Example:
+///
+/// ```
+///   'linter': '0.1.35', // TODO(yjbanov): https://github.com/dart-lang/linter/issues/824
+/// ```
 const Map<String, String> _kManuallyPinnedDependencies = const <String, String>{
-  'linter': '0.1.35', // TODO(yjbanov): https://github.com/dart-lang/linter/issues/824
+  // Add pinned packages here.
 };
 
 class UpdatePackagesCommand extends FlutterCommand {
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/pubspec.yaml b/packages/flutter_tools/pubspec.yaml
index 663d73f131..ffce0475be 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/pubspec.yaml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ dependencies:
   intl: 0.15.2
   json_rpc_2: 2.0.4
   json_schema: 1.0.6
-  linter: 0.1.35
+  linter: 0.1.38
   meta: 1.1.1
   mustache: 0.2.5+1
   package_config: 1.0.3