diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/version.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/version.dart
index 4902f732ea1..4f6b56634c5 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/version.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/version.dart
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ abstract class FlutterVersion {
       fetchTags: fetchTags,
     );
     final String frameworkVersion = gitTagVersion.frameworkVersionFor(frameworkRevision);
-    return _FlutterVersionGit._(
+    final _FlutterVersionGit result = _FlutterVersionGit._(
       clock: clock,
       flutterRoot: flutterRoot,
       frameworkRevision: frameworkRevision,
@@ -136,6 +136,10 @@ abstract class FlutterVersion {
       gitTagVersion: gitTagVersion,
       fs: fs,
     );
+    if (fetchTags) {
+      result.ensureVersionFile();
+    }
+    return result;
   }
 
   /// Ensure the latest git tags are fetched and recalculate [FlutterVersion].
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/version_test.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/version_test.dart
index ecd4221faf2..8f0c339859f 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/version_test.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/version_test.dart
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import 'dart:convert';
 
 import 'package:file/file.dart';
 import 'package:file/memory.dart';
+import 'package:file_testing/file_testing.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_tools/src/base/logger.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_tools/src/base/platform.dart';
 import 'package:flutter_tools/src/base/process.dart';
@@ -60,13 +61,19 @@ void main() {
       const String flutterRoot = '/path/to/flutter';
 
       setUpAll(() {
-        fs = MemoryFileSystem.test();
         Cache.disableLocking();
         VersionFreshnessValidator.timeToPauseToLetUserReadTheMessage = Duration.zero;
       });
 
+      setUp(() {
+        fs = MemoryFileSystem.test();
+        fs.directory(flutterRoot).createSync(recursive: true);
+        FlutterVersion.getVersionFile(fs, flutterRoot).createSync(recursive: true);
+        fs.file(fs.path.join(flutterRoot, 'version')).createSync(recursive: true);
+      });
+
       testUsingContext(
-        'prints nothing when Flutter installation looks fresh',
+        'prints nothing when Flutter installation looks fresh $channel',
         () async {
           const String flutterUpstreamUrl = 'https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git';
           processManager.addCommands(<FakeCommand>[
@@ -227,6 +234,199 @@ void main() {
         overrides: <Type, Generator>{ProcessManager: () => processManager, Cache: () => cache},
       );
 
+      // Regression test for https://github.com/flutter/flutter/issues/142521
+      testUsingContext(
+        'does not remove version files when fetching tags',
+        () async {
+          const String flutterUpstreamUrl = 'https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git';
+          processManager.addCommands(<FakeCommand>[
+            const FakeCommand(
+              command: <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%H',
+              ],
+              stdout: '1234abcd',
+            ),
+            const FakeCommand(command: <String>['git', 'symbolic-ref', '--short', 'HEAD']),
+            const FakeCommand(
+              command: <String>[
+                'git',
+                'fetch',
+                'https://github.com/flutter/flutter.git',
+                '--tags',
+                '-f',
+              ],
+            ),
+            const FakeCommand(command: <String>['git', 'tag', '--points-at', '1234abcd']),
+            const FakeCommand(
+              command: <String>[
+                'git',
+                'describe',
+                '--match',
+                '*.*.*',
+                '--long',
+                '--tags',
+                '1234abcd',
+              ],
+              stdout: '0.1.2-3-1234abcd',
+            ),
+            FakeCommand(
+              command: const <String>['git', 'symbolic-ref', '--short', 'HEAD'],
+              stdout: channel,
+            ),
+            FakeCommand(
+              command: const <String>[
+                'git',
+                'rev-parse',
+                '--abbrev-ref',
+                '--symbolic',
+                '@{upstream}',
+              ],
+              stdout: 'origin/$channel',
+            ),
+            const FakeCommand(
+              command: <String>['git', 'ls-remote', '--get-url', 'origin'],
+              stdout: flutterUpstreamUrl,
+            ),
+            FakeCommand(
+              command: const <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                'HEAD',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%ad',
+                '--date=iso',
+              ],
+              stdout: getChannelUpToDateVersion().toString(),
+            ),
+            FakeCommand(
+              command: const <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                'abcdefg',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%ad',
+                '--date=iso',
+              ],
+              stdout: getChannelUpToDateVersion().toString(),
+            ),
+            FakeCommand(
+              command: const <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                'HEAD',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%ad',
+                '--date=iso',
+              ],
+              stdout: getChannelUpToDateVersion().toString(),
+            ),
+            const FakeCommand(command: <String>['git', 'fetch', '--tags']),
+            FakeCommand(
+              command: const <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                '@{upstream}',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%ad',
+                '--date=iso',
+              ],
+              stdout: getChannelUpToDateVersion().toString(),
+            ),
+            const FakeCommand(
+              command: <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%ar',
+              ],
+              stdout: '1 second ago',
+            ),
+            FakeCommand(
+              command: const <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                'HEAD',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%ad',
+                '--date=iso',
+              ],
+              stdout: getChannelUpToDateVersion().toString(),
+            ),
+            const FakeCommand(
+              command: <String>[
+                'git',
+                '-c',
+                'log.showSignature=false',
+                'log',
+                '-n',
+                '1',
+                '--pretty=format:%ar',
+                'abcdefg',
+              ],
+              stdout: '2 seconds ago',
+            ),
+          ]);
+
+          final FlutterVersion flutterVersion = FlutterVersion(
+            clock: _testClock,
+            fs: fs,
+            flutterRoot: flutterRoot,
+            fetchTags: true,
+          );
+          await flutterVersion.checkFlutterVersionFreshness();
+
+          // Verify the version files exist and have been repopulated after the fetch.
+          expect(FlutterVersion.getVersionFile(fs, flutterRoot), exists); // flutter.version.json
+          expect(fs.file(fs.path.join(flutterRoot, 'version')), exists); // legacy
+
+          expect(flutterVersion.channel, channel);
+          expect(flutterVersion.repositoryUrl, flutterUpstreamUrl);
+          expect(flutterVersion.frameworkRevision, '1234abcd');
+          expect(flutterVersion.frameworkRevisionShort, '1234abcd');
+          expect(flutterVersion.frameworkVersion, '0.0.0-unknown');
+          expect(
+            flutterVersion.toString(),
+            'Flutter • channel $channel • $flutterUpstreamUrl\n'
+            'Framework • revision 1234abcd (1 second ago) • ${getChannelUpToDateVersion()}\n'
+            'Engine • revision abcdefg (2 seconds ago) • ${getChannelUpToDateVersion()}\n'
+            'Tools • Dart 2.12.0 • DevTools 2.8.0',
+          );
+          expect(flutterVersion.frameworkAge, '1 second ago');
+          expect(flutterVersion.getVersionString(), '$channel/1234abcd');
+          expect(flutterVersion.getBranchName(), channel);
+          expect(flutterVersion.getVersionString(redactUnknownBranches: true), '$channel/1234abcd');
+          expect(flutterVersion.getBranchName(redactUnknownBranches: true), channel);
+
+          expect(testLogger.statusText, isEmpty);
+          expect(processManager, hasNoRemainingExpectations);
+        },
+        overrides: <Type, Generator>{ProcessManager: () => processManager, Cache: () => cache},
+      );
+
       testUsingContext(
         'does not crash when git log outputs malformed output',
         () async {