Abstract A Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry is proposed, in order to generate in the Standard Model (SM) quark sector a realistic mass matrix ansatz with five texture-zeros. Limiting our analysis to Hermitian mass matrices we show that this requires a minimum of 4 Higgs doublets. This model allows assigning values close to 1 for several Yukawa couplings, giving insight into the origin of the mass scales in the SM. Since the PQ charges are non-universal the model features Flavor-Changing Neutral Currents (FCNC) at the tree level. From the analytical expressions for the FCNC we report the allowed region in the parameter space obtained from the measurements of branching ratios of semileptonic meson decays.