diff --git a/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/project.clj b/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/project.clj
index 0cba0089e..c09922f36 100644
--- a/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/project.clj
+++ b/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/project.clj
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 (defn- update-each-contained [m keys f & args]
   (reduce (fn [m k]
             (if (contains? m k)
-              (apply update-in m [k] f args)
+              (apply update m k f args)
               m)) m keys))
 
 (defn- update-first [coll pred f]
diff --git a/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/utils.clj b/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/utils.clj
index f486e81ac..5181dd9a0 100644
--- a/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/utils.clj
+++ b/leiningen-core/src/leiningen/core/utils.clj
@@ -204,3 +204,11 @@
                          (cons x (step (rest s) (conj seen fx)))))))
                  xs seen)))]
     (reverse (step (reverse coll) #{}))))
+
+(defn ancestor?
+  "Is a an ancestor of b?"
+  [a b]
+  (let [hypothetical-ancestor (.getCanonicalPath (io/file a))
+        hypothetical-descendant (.getCanonicalPath (io/file b))]
+    (and (.startsWith hypothetical-descendant hypothetical-ancestor)
+         (not (= hypothetical-descendant hypothetical-ancestor)))))
diff --git a/leiningen-core/test/leiningen/core/test/classpath.clj b/leiningen-core/test/leiningen/core/test/classpath.clj
index 02bbc18c7..594b14b16 100644
--- a/leiningen-core/test/leiningen/core/test/classpath.clj
+++ b/leiningen-core/test/leiningen/core/test/classpath.clj
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@
       (.mkdirs d1)
       (spit (io/file d1 "project.clj")
             (pr-str '(defproject hello "1.0")))
-      (is (= (for [path ["src" "dev-resources" "resources"
+      (is (= (for [path ["src" "dev-resources" "resources"
                          "target/classes" "foo"]]
                (lthelper/pathify (format "/tmp/lein-sample-project/checkouts/d1/%s" path)))
              (#'leiningen.core.classpath/checkout-deps-paths project)))
diff --git a/project.clj b/project.clj
index 36b7e4acd..2ab29bcc7 100644
--- a/project.clj
+++ b/project.clj
@@ -34,9 +34,7 @@
                              cemerick.pomegranate
                              classlojure.core
                              clojure.tools.nrepl
-                             clj-http.core
-                             ;; to avoid compile warnings at runtime:
-                             clj-http.client]}}
+                             clj-http.core]}}
   :test-selectors {:default (complement :disabled)
                    :offline (comp (partial not-any? identity)
                                   (juxt :online :disabled))}
diff --git a/src/leiningen/clean.clj b/src/leiningen/clean.clj
index 9fd6f18c7..0170a95bc 100644
--- a/src/leiningen/clean.clj
+++ b/src/leiningen/clean.clj
@@ -25,14 +25,6 @@
     (.setWritable f true)
     (io/delete-file f silently)))
 
-(defn- ancestor?
-  "Is a an ancestor of b?"
-  [a b]
-  (let [hypothetical-ancestor (.getCanonicalPath (io/file a))
-        hypothetical-descendant (.getCanonicalPath (io/file b))]
-    (and (.startsWith hypothetical-descendant hypothetical-ancestor)
-         (not (= hypothetical-descendant hypothetical-ancestor)))))
-
 (defn- protected-paths
   "Returns a set of leiningen project source directories and important files."
   [project]
@@ -52,7 +44,7 @@
   [project path]
   (let [protected-paths (protected-paths project)]
     (or (protected-paths (.getCanonicalPath (io/file path)))
-        (some #(ancestor? % path) protected-paths))))
+        (some #(utils/ancestor? % path) protected-paths))))
 
 (defn- protect-clean-targets?
   "Returns the value of :protect in the metadata map for the :clean-targets
@@ -72,7 +64,7 @@
   [project clean-target]
   (when (and (string? clean-target)
              (protect-clean-targets? project))
-    (cond (not (ancestor? (:root project) clean-target))
+    (cond (not (utils/ancestor? (:root project) clean-target))
           (main/abort (error-msg "Deleting path outside of the project root [\""
                                  clean-target "\"] is not allowed."))
           (protected-path? project clean-target)
diff --git a/src/leiningen/update_in.clj b/src/leiningen/update_in.clj
index 54ee43f27..164fbb195 100644
--- a/src/leiningen/update_in.clj
+++ b/src/leiningen/update_in.clj
@@ -14,11 +14,9 @@
      task+args]))
 
 (defn ^:internal update-project [project keys-vec f args]
-  (let [f #(apply apply (concat (if (seq keys-vec)
-                                  [clj/update-in % keys-vec f]
-                                  [f %])
-                                args
-                                [nil]))]
+  (let [f #(if (seq keys-vec)
+             (apply clj/update-in % keys-vec f args)
+             (apply f % args))]
     (-> (vary-meta (f project) clj/update-in [:without-profiles] f)
         (project/load-plugins)
         (project/activate-middleware))))