multiple SAVEPOINTs without RELEASE SAVEPOINT

Is there any penalty for repeatedly doing
SAVEPOINT eugene
without a corresponding
RELEASE SAVEPOINT
?

In my case, I have a table with a unique index constraint. Multiple
processes will be trying to "create or lookup" a record, so trapping the
unique index constraint seems the most robust way to detect if the record
already exists. The overall structure I'm using (in pseudo-Ruby syntax):

begin
response = execute("SAVEPOINT eugene;
INSERT INTO symbols (name) VALUES
('#{name}') RETURNING id")
rescue
# arrive here on a constraint violation if the name already existed
response = execute("ROLLBACK TO SAVEPOINT eugene;
SELECT id FROM symbols WHERE symbols.name =
'#{name}'")
ensure
# is this RELEASE strictly required?
execute("RELEASE SAVEPOINT eugene")
end

(On a related note, would I be better off using advisory locks? And would
that be sufficient in the face of multiple processes?)

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