diff --git a/lib/meteor_npm.js b/lib/meteor_npm.js
index 3196f9ef79..2353ee99df 100644
--- a/lib/meteor_npm.js
+++ b/lib/meteor_npm.js
@@ -37,18 +37,17 @@ var meteorNpm = module.exports = {
         // we already nave a .npm directory. update it:
         // - create new tmp directory for the new contents of .npm
         // - copy npm-shrinkwrap.json from .npm to the temp directory
-        // - construct package.json, which is needed for `npm install`
+        // - in temp directory, construct package.json, which is needed for `npm install`
         // - call `npm install`, which reads from npm-shrinkwrap.json
-        // - call `npm install foo@version` for any package that needs to be updated
+        // - call `npm install name@version` for any package that needs to be updated
         // - call `npm prune` to remove any unused packages from node_modules
         // - call `npm shrinkwrap` to update npm-shrinkwrap.json
         // - copy the temporary directory back to .npm
         self._updateExistingNpmDirectory(packageName, tmpPackageNpmDir, packageNpmDir, npmDependencies);
       } else {
-        // create fresh .npm directory:
+        // create a temporary directory for the new contents of .npm:
         // - create .gitignore
         // - install npm modules
-        // - construct package.json, without which `npm shrinkwrap` generates a different looking npm-shrinkwrap.json
         // - call `npm shrinkwrap` to create npm-shrinkwrap.json
         // - copy the temporary directory to .npm
         self._createFreshNpmDirectory(packageName, tmpPackageNpmDir, packageNpmDir, npmDependencies);
@@ -61,6 +60,8 @@ var meteorNpm = module.exports = {
 
   _updateExistingNpmDirectory: function(packageName, tmpPackageNpmDir, packageNpmDir, npmDependencies) {
     var self = this;
+
+    // sanity check on contents of .npm directory
     if (!fs.statSync(packageNpmDir).isDirectory())
       throw new Error("Corrupted .npm directory -- should be a directory: " + packageNpmDir);
     if (!fs.existsSync(path.join(packageNpmDir, 'npm-shrinkwrap.json')))
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ var meteorNpm = module.exports = {
       // `npm install`
       self._installFromShrinkwrap(tmpPackageNpmDir);
 
-      // install modules that need updating
+      // `npm install name@version` for modules that need updating
       _.each(npmDependencies, function(version, name) {
         if (installedDependencies[name] !== version) {
           self._installNpmModule(name, version, tmpPackageNpmDir);
@@ -154,9 +155,9 @@ var meteorNpm = module.exports = {
   _finalizeTmpPackageDirAndRename: function(tmpPackageNpmDir, packageNpmDir) {
     var self = this;
 
-    self._shrinkwrap(tmpPackageNpmDir);
     if (fs.existsSync(path.join(tmpPackageNpmDir, 'package.json')))
       fs.unlinkSync(path.join(tmpPackageNpmDir, 'package.json'));
+    self._shrinkwrap(tmpPackageNpmDir);
 
     if (fs.existsSync(packageNpmDir)) {
       var oldPackageNpmDir = packageNpmDir + '-old-' + self._randomToken();;
diff --git a/lib/tests/test_bundler_npm.js b/lib/tests/test_bundler_npm.js
index 544a8e1caf..57d3b28617 100644
--- a/lib/tests/test_bundler_npm.js
+++ b/lib/tests/test_bundler_npm.js
@@ -39,9 +39,7 @@ var _assertCorrectPackageNpmDir = function(deps) {
   assert.equal(
     fs.readFileSync(path.join(testPackageDir, ".npm", "npm-shrinkwrap.json"), 'utf8'),
     JSON.stringify({
-      name: "packages-for-meteor-smartpackage-test-package",
-      version: "0.0.0",
-      dependencies: expectedMeteorNpmShrinkwrapDependencies}, null, /*indentation, the way npm uses it*/2) + '\n');
+      dependencies: expectedMeteorNpmShrinkwrapDependencies}, null, /*indentation, the way npm does it*/2) + '\n');
 
   // verify the contents of the `node_modules` dir
   var nodeModulesDir = path.join(testPackageDir, ".npm", "node_modules");