  In the proof of the classical Borel lemma [6] given by Hayman [11], any
positive increasing continuous function $T(r)$ satisfies
$T\Big(r+\frac{1}{T(r)}\Big)<2T(r)$ outside a possible exceptional set of
linear measure $2$. This result is pivotal in the value distribution theory of
entire and meromorphic functions; therefore, exceptional sets appear throughout
Nevanlinna theory, most of which regard the second main theorem. In this work,
we show that $T(r)$ satisfies a smaller inequality
$T\Big(r+\frac{1}{T(r)}\Big)<\big(\sqrt{T(r)}+1\big)^2<2T(r)$ outside a
possible exceptional set of linear measure $\zeta(2)=\frac{\pi^2}{6}<2$ with
$\zeta(s)$ the Riemann zeta-function. The sharp-form second main theorem by
Hinkkanen [12] is used, and a comparison with Nevanlinna [17] and an extension
to Arias [2] are given.
